


The Cassandra Metaphor

by theyoungdaydreamer



Series: Youngblood Chronicles [2]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Attempted Murder, Depression, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Medication, Murder, School and University Struggles, Self-Harm, SuperYogs AU, Superpower Struggles, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2018-07-18 22:03:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 64,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7332352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theyoungdaydreamer/pseuds/theyoungdaydreamer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sparkles grew up used to the dangers of a city full of powerful supers, one of the few doubting they could all be so bad. With the realization he has a power of his own, albeit a passive one, he struggles to deal with staying alive and sane, all while keeping his friends from dying themselves. Most importantly he fights to find his place among the young, depressed heroes and tired veterans in the hazardous world of murderous gods and villains eternally threatening them all.<br/>(The life and hardships of Sparkles* as he interacts with the heroes and villains before and up to official comic content [set in the years 2000-2015])<br/>This is a SuperYogs fanfic based on characters and plot points from the Tumblr blog.<br/>Basically: Seer Sparkles because foretelling through music is cool and I love the myth about Cassandra. Also adds drama to the Parv the blood mage situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Golden Age

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young Sparkles finds his sleep plagued by an awful nightmare he can't remember, while the world around him enforces a negative view of supers, whether heroic or not. With no understanding of what he may actually have, we see the boy smile for his mother and worry his way through the worst day of his life so far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly for setting up the world and so not much happens at the moment, some aspects hold significance, however. I kinda wanted to explore what Minecraftia would look like not just to a young child but also what it was like before the heroes and villains of the webcomic responded to their super callings.  
> Please also note that if you believe I should include another warning tag for this story please let me know. This Universe is actually very dark when you look at it and I'm unsure I'll cover all bases in the tags when I develop those themes.

Sparkles woke to a hand on his shoulder. A frantic voice he blearily recognised as his mother’s quickly shook the sleepiness away. It took a moment before he realised where he actually was, curled up in his bed with the covers thrown back and tangled around his feet from tossing and turning. Light spilled out from the hall and blurred everything as tears he didn’t realise he was crying spilled from his eyes. His mother stood over him and although her face was in shadow he knew her expression was an anxious one.

“Darling, are you alright? Are you okay?” Her voice was heavy with concern and it made him less groggy almost the instant after he registered it.

He sat up quickly to properly free himself from the covers his mother was peeling back. He tried to take a proper breath and instead a desperate sob forced its way out of his mouth. His mother sat down on the bed next to him as he shook uncontrollably and without thinking he hugged her tightly. He let out whatever was upsetting him and made quiet, sad noises into her side that dampened the shoulder of her nightclothes. He felt a distant pang of disgust at the wet patch of tears he was making. At the same time his need to cry was overpowering, besides, she didn’t seem to mind.

“I am now.” He managed after a few seconds, swallowing around the hard, strained feeling in his throat, heartbeat still frantically hammering in his chest.

She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and stroked his back, soothingly patting his head as he leaned further into her touch. “It was just a nightmare, a bad dream. It’s okay now.”

“I know it wasn’t real.” Sparkles said pathetically, drawing back from her now. Guilt flooded his thoughts as he realized he must have woken her up. “It just…”

“Do you want to talk about it?” She inquired, a hand on his knee as he scrunched up his face and shut his eyes tightly.

“I can’t remember it.” He whispered, voice pained. “I’m sorry.”

Despite that, he had a feeling that he shouldn’t be so upset he’d forgotten it at all. A feeling that the dream had to have been very bad for him to be reacting so violently.

“Don’t worry about it.” She reassured him, kissing his head. He took a long, deep breath, inhaling the homely smell of his mother’s bedclothes. His fists grasped them, despite the fact he hated how clingy he was acting. “Do you want me to stay for a little longer?”

He shook his head and then leaned forward, kissing her cheek. A kind of apology, he reckoned.

“No. Go back to sleep, you have work later and I don’t want to make you all tired out.”

“You don’t need to worry about me.” She said, brushing his hair back from his face as he pulled his covers over himself and rested his head on his pillow. She tenderly wiped away the remains of any tears from his eyes and cheeks with a forefinger. “But, if you’re alright now I’ll leave you be.”

“Yes. Goodnight, mum.” Sparkles murmured and she smiled and kissed his cheek one final time.

“It’s closer to morning now, darling, but sleep well until we actually have to get up.”

He watched her as she left the room, still half tempted to ask to get in his parents' bed before she turned and the light finally showed her tired face. Sparkles felt shame welling up as she smiled and mouthed “Love you” before the door was closed and light shut out. He already missed her warmth. He tried closing his eyes but a shard of fear was still wedged in his mind, and the darkness everywhere overwhelmed him.

Reaching the conclusion he wouldn’t be able to sleep unless he distracted himself for a while he reached out blindly on the floor next to his bed, snagging the leg of his toy giraffe. It took a minute of further reaching to find the accompanying story book that had strayed under the bed. Fear of the unknown haunted him, but his mind was set on this small task and he was determined to see it through. He fumbled for the switch for his Batman nightlight, and, finally, his room was bathed in a soft yellow glow.

With the threat of darkness gone Sparkles took a moment to inhale the familiar smell of the toy and run his finger over the book, the pages made of thick laminated cardboard so that teething toddlers weren’t a threat to its life. Despite the fact they were clearly made for someone several years younger than him both items were very dear to him, well-worn with use and love. They had been a present from his father a long time ago, from his perspective anyway. A time where things had seemed happier and there’d been hours allowing a life outside work to read bedtime stories to his son. Sparkles stayed with those golden memories and running his hands over his favourite possessions for a while, finally lying on his stomach and starting on the book. The writing was simplistic and the illustrations took up most of the page room, but Sparkles fondly read through it twice. A slight smile was on his face the whole time, the nightmare purposely pushed aside.

The tale was simple: a giraffe was an outcast among his people for his long neck and so he traveled around to see other animals. They showed how their different features helped them survive better, one being an elephant and its big ears. When all the leaves off the trees were gone one day the long-necked giraffe was the only giraffe not starving. While supposed to be a heart-warming story about how the giraffes came to respect long-necked giraffe for their differences, there was a dark tone to it that Sparkles’ father had pointed out to him and which hovered in a dark corner of his mind.

It was at the end of the second reading that he felt a yawn coming and realized the terror he’d felt from his dream had dwindled while he read. Although he felt something was still wrong he forcefully dismissed it. The bag slung on the bottom of his bed as a reminder of school tomorrow was reason enough to sleep.

Sparkles slid the book on the floor and switched off the light, wrapping himself in his covers. Now hidden, he sighed into the giraffe toy and slowly succumbed to how very tired he was. Despite the remaining niggling fear at the back of his mind from his nightmare - the details of which eluded him – he fell asleep to the thoughts of his parents embracing him. Of his father, happy, and with time to spend with him.

*

_**M̏̆̽̃ỷ̸͓̯͍̺͇̭̳̐͗̉͂̐t̤̤͂̍ͣͨ̓͌̚h̬͔̣͔̮̦͋́ͤ̑̏ͯ̈́r̗̹o̤̟͟a̙̞̭͍t̤̫͕̫̣͕ͅi̝ͬc͈͚͌̓̾̈́̂̉a̮̫̦̱͇ͦ̎̍̎̓̚̚n̖͓̫̬̬̮̫̒̈́ͩ͒ͤ̚͡’͍͍̯̣̜͇͙ͮt͖ͨ͑͐f͇̫̘̣̎̾̓̒ĕ͓̱̣̖̒̉̓̏ͭ̋e͕̪̜̖̠͈ͅḷ̩̜̠͖̙͚͒̇̑̒̂̂̾i̔̃̉͋̎ͨt̰̩̉̓ͅṇ̸͎̪͎̼̍͂̋ͩ̈́ư͑̓ͥͩm̢̟̤̝͔̪̝̈́̂b̴̥̯̱͎͙̮̜̄ͧw̍̆̿͆̚e̛͙̳̹͍͉͈̋t̴́ͮ̓̎ͫ̐ͫi̩̲̿ͥͥͥ̒͗̚t̮́̑̄̚ȟ̝̮̞̗̀͠ṷ̹ͯ̎̎r͍͚̮̰̖͈̽͐ͫ̀t̬̰̙̦s̼s̱ͧ͌̏͋̽͊̚o̲̰͇̲̦b͙̩̖̬̩ą̘͕̥̖ͨ̍d͓͙̫̯͒̿̍ͬ̓ͨͭly̞͊̎ͮ̅̇͋i̖̻̺̰̙̐ͤ̓ͪ̈͑́̕ͅͅc̡̻̻̗̠̼ͤ̀ã̺̫̑̀ͣͅn̳̮̞̜̦̬ͦ͑͂͝’͉t̸̅ͦ͑̏ͣ̇͋b̨̭̟̘͇́̾̾̒͑r͔͙͑̑̌̈́̒͆̃e̮͆̃̌ͣͨ̓̏a̵̻̦͚ͤͪͤͥ͐t̋͑͊h͓̝̝͇̥̹̏̉ͣ̓̓̚ͅeͣ̓͗͛ȉ̱̜̺̜̓ͫ͞c̸͇̭̙͕̜̮̤͆̋̊̓ͣ͂̚a̰͇̬̦̟̲̹̅n̻̹̥̭̹̄ͧͯ̌ͦ̚͠ͅ’̱̼ͦͯ̎̃̔͐̒ͅt̙̟͓̼͛ͯ̒̅ͩ̈w͕͙̲ͬ̔̑ͥ̇h̦̣y͔͚͔ͨ̔͞m̻̮̤͚̬̼̄̂̈ë̥́̊̄̀̄w̧͑ͪ́̄h̤̥͚̙̬͍̜ͣ͌͐͊̈́̀y̧̮̰̯̝̓͑̿͋͐w̧͓̜̬̓ͅͅh̬͓͕̹͙͕̞̾̾ͨ͋̿̽y͇̑̏̏ͬ̏͑͜w̼̰͔̾ͤͩͣǒ̯̄̓̓͠uͧ̓ͣ̽͌̓l̸̝d̪͇̭̲̮ͭͣ͟h͔̓͗͋͗̔̔e̛͉̣̙̣̙̫̯w̥͂̚̚h̨̞̳̘̒y̨͙̺͕̫͓̝͑**_

Sparkles jolted awake, floundering around for his plush giraffe before hugging it tightly in an attempt to quietly calm himself down. He was shocked to find tears squeezing themselves out from under his eyelids, the second time that night. Already he felt embarrassment creeping in, staring into the blurry distance to try and make sense of it.

Casting around for a reason for waking up so suddenly, for any memory of his dream, he found it had quickly faded. He was left with nothing but the familiar enormously bad feeling, like a black hole in the pit of his stomach. His heart still raced, blood thumping so loudly in his ears his teary gasps were inaudible.

Sniffling a little he glanced over at his Star Wars alarm clock, blinking and wiping away sleep and tears with the back of his hands. He counted himself fortunate that it was still early – before 7AM - and he had time to properly calm himself before his mother would come upstairs and check he was awake. Pushing his covers back he climbed out of bed and gave his giraffe one last hug. He placed it upright on his pillow, as if to observe something, and turned to the rest of his room.

From here he could see his reflection in the Spiderman themed mirror on the back of his door. He crossed over to it, unhappy with the boy he saw in it. His scruffy ginger hair stuck up after his difficult nights sleep and his blue eyes were red and puffy from crying and exhaustion. His glow in the dark Pokémon pyjamas were getting a little too small for his frame, as his ankles were visible by more than half an inch, but they would last long enough until his birthday and a new pair. His face was small and round, and his height was still something that kept him from reaching the cookies on top of the cupboards, even with the aid of a chair. His eyebrows were unruly, his nails were short and ragged, and his lips were chapped and bitten, though not to the extent he had bled. As he sighed deeply at himself, alone, in the partial darkness of early morning, they quivered as he kept working himself into a calmer state after the thought of his recurring nightmare.

Sparkles was having this problem every night now, dreaming of something awful that he couldn’t remember after waking up. He didn’t want to worry his mother about it; he would be seven soon, a big boy, and in his eyes, needing to be more responsible for himself. He didn’t even speak much with his father nowadays either. He worked so late that he was often only home early in the morning or too tired to maintain a conversation on more than just a summary of Sparkles’ day at school. This was a point in his life where he was adamant to learn how to deal with things on his own.

He pulled off his pyjamas and left them in a neat pile at the foot of his bed before moving towards the small chair sat just in front of his computer desk. Although it was several years old and could run very few good games his computer had served him well and earned his love. He had struggled through the old Tomb Raider games, as well as others his mother deemed more appropriate for a young child to be playing. The urge to switch it on was bitterly fought as he pulled on the clean clothes laid out on the chair, promising himself he could wait a little longer to get back to the fourth entry: The Last Revelation.

He was putting on fresh socks when his door was softly knocked on and pushed open, his mother’s head poking around the side of it.

“Sparkles, are you up?” She asked, barely above a whisper, exhaustion hidden well.

“Yes. I’ll be down in a couple of minutes.” He replied, nervously turning his face away from her in case his crying was too obvious.

“Ok. See you then.” She smiled at him and retreated, shutting the door behind her.

Sparkles listened until her footsteps receded down the stairs and sighed in relief. He finished getting dressed, pushing his door open and heading straight to the bathroom across the landing. Looking into the mirror he was thankful that his eyes were losing their redness, although his hair was still a mess. He quickly scrubbed his face with a Transformers flannel soaked in cold water and combed his hair into something neater. With a forced smile he tried to portray a confidence he wasn’t quite feeling then, letting it quell the dread wound up in his stomach. Turning away from his reflection he darted into his room to grab the empty glass off of his bedside table, patting giraffe’s head before heading downstairs.

Sparkles descended into the hall decorated with childish crayon drawings and family photos, happy memories from a time he couldn’t quite recall. He was no artist and he hated how stubby and awkward he looked next to his parents, but their pride and support, however unconditional, touched him. He had to stop for a moment by a photo of his father teaching him to ride a bike to swallow back the yearning he felt for them to be happy and have time together again. So long as they were somewhat there for him Sparkles knew everything would be okay. He could deal with the nightmare with their comforting support just as soon as he worked up the courage to actually tell them about it.

Feeling emotionally lighter after the happy memories he proceeded to the kitchen and the source of the smell of buttery toast and freshly roasted coffee. Inside he found his mother busying herself with making sandwiches while watching the Minecraftia Sun on the small TV perched on the side. It was an easy smile on his face as he greeted her with a brush of her back as he got to his seat at the kitchen table. He pulled back his chair – the one with a Spiderman foil sticker still holding on for dear life on the back rest – and sat so that he had a good vantage point of both the toast pile in the center of the table and the presenters announcing the weather.

“Did you sleep better, darling?” She asked him from her perch to the left of the TV.

“Yes.” He lied, shoving a slice of toast in his mouth to cover it up. Apparently today wasn't the day when he was going to admit anything about the bad dream.

“You’ll be happy to know I did too, then.” She carried on. “And if you’re that well rested then I’m sure you’re going to have lots of fun today.”

He thought for a moment that something special must have been taking place at school, panic causing a pause in his chewing. Quickly he realized it was just her enthusiasm talking. It was just a regular day of learning again, after all, nothing exciting ever happened to him.

He didn’t reply to her and kept eating, watching as she packed her lunch away in her cheap leather handbag. She was all professionally dressed in her smart work uniform, except for the large pig slippers she wore on her feet. They’d been a ‘present’ from him several years before and become a vital part of the family ever since, even acquiring the names Porkers and Babe. She was a woman above average height, slightly taller than their neighbours, thin, but not unhealthily so like the models on the front of magazines she sometimes gazed wistfully at. Her long hair was dark brown and tied in a neat, low ponytail and her lipstick and foundation were well applied, from what he could tell in his inexperience anyway. Although she tried to portray a pleasant attitude for his sake he could see dark circles, barely visible under her eyes, and the early sign of greying in her hairline, much to his concern.

She sipped thoughtfully from her coffee and watched the news, Sparkles snapping to attention at the name of his father’s work.

_“Several office skyscrapers were caught in the line of fire between a renegade vigilante and a criminal today. Giga Drilling Co., Blackline Firm, and Strifecorp HQs were all partially aflame and damaged as two supers, one being the recently named ‘Sjinergy’, battled on Business Street. The vigilante managed to subdue the fire manipulating criminal ‘Flametongue’, but only after thousands of pounds of damage was caused.”_

Sparkles swallowed uncertainly and watched the worry etch itself into his mother’s face. His father worked at Blackline Firm, filing and converting many decades worth of information into a digital format. His mother had often complained that he was given ridiculous quotas and requests. The pay was too good to for them to ignore, despite all that. It would keep Sparkles in comfortable living and regularly fed, away from the dangers of the city.

_“No fatal casualties were recorded, however, hospital care was required for some workers with minor burns or glass and concrete chips embedded in their skin. As of now, the criminal is in custody but Sjinergy is still at large and refusing to pay for the damage he causes. Anyone with information related to him is implored to go to the police._

_And now, the new sheep mascot for Sipsco…”_

Sparkles tensely finished the last slice of toast on the table and watched his mother sip at her coffee, forehead furrowed in deep thought. His father hadn’t called them, so whatever problems the superhero had caused they mustn’t have really affected him. Knowing he was safe was reassuring, and although the damage sounded bad it didn’t seem to Sparkles that there was much of threat from this Sjinergy. If he was trying his best to capture the bad guys how terrible could he be?

He mumbled about brushing his teeth and hastily left the kitchen. She’d been gripping the mug so hard her knuckles had gone white, and he’d been almost certain her hand had shaken a little. Sparkles felt horrible for intruding on her feelings and it hurt him deeply to see her unhappy. The emotional lightness from earlier had hit a metaphorical iceberg and sunk to the pit of his stomach, joining the wreck of his withheld, poisonous fear from the nightmare.

*

The walk to school wasn’t awfully long, two miles at most without the use of shortcuts. But Sparkles discovered that day how exhaustion could really hinder your stamina, finding himself tiredly lagging behind his mother.

Eventually she came to notice this, holding out a hand for him to hold on to. He gladly took it, pretending she was sharing her endless adult energy with him through the contact between their hands, allowing him to keep pace. This pretense mostly worked because, despite his legs protesting, she was strong, sturdy, and powerful next to him. Also if he didn’t keep up he’d have to let go of her hand, and he didn’t want that.

As they started passing into a less suburban part of the city the surroundings became larger and more intimidating. Houses were tall and thin, several stories high of what he thought of as grand flats, windows decorated with stickers or plants. The road beside them grew wider and busier, cars slowing down as the traffic grew with the waking city. They passed other parents and children who they didn’t greet but acknowledged as fellow pilgrims. Others included office workers power walking and speaking into their new phones, early shoppers heading to cafés for breakfast at a volume that even next to loud vehicles Sparkles found irritating, and even the rare tourist over from the recently recovering Minstral City, admiring their sister city’s architecture.

“Why do those people do that, mum?”

“Hmm?”

“Why do they get in the way and talk too loudly?”

Unexpectedly she laughed, Sparkles pouting at her reaction. He didn’t find their actions funny at all. All that these people crowding the streets did was annoy him as they got in his way.

“Oh, you are funny, darling.” She composed herself but a smile still played across her lips. “They just do. And you’ll find that sometimes you do that to others too.”

He opened his mouth to protest but saw her smile widen and sulkily realized she was playing with him. He avoided looking at her and sniffed repeatedly instead, to show how upset he was. Wondering if she felt guilty enough yet he glanced back up at her and saw her attention was elsewhere. Likewise, Sparkles felt a childish magnetism to the play park coming up in the green nearby as he realized where he was, his mother currently looking up at a large billboard on the side of an apartment block.

The colours were a primary blue and black, highlighting the well dressed, professional looking individual that watched the street with bright, flat eyes. The man was sleek and handsome in a way that caught even Sparkles’ eye, wearing a dark blue coat with golden stitching, sleeves and buttons that just screamed money. His eyes were a stark green to the rest of the billboard, his teeth seemed whiter than white in the confident grin he portrayed on his clean shaven face, light brown hair that could only be described as ‘floofy’ brushed smartly in a middle parting. The words _**‘A lawyer with what’s best in mind’**_ took up the remaining two thirds, as well as some contact details. The advert for Ridgedog, a popular and widely successful lawyer had become quite of a landmark for Sparkles, having to pass it every trip to school and everything. He wondered if it worked in bringing the man business, for, in his opinion, all it did was make him uneasy. There was nothing like a large grinning rich person looming over the street to freak out a child.

They quickly moved past it and turned a corner to a quieter path through the green. A small play park consisting of several swings and slides, several structures to climb and monkey bar from, a seesaw, and a few stepping stones was visible in the distance. Turning slowly and letting the longing he felt to throw himself at the park visible in his hopeful expression he looked up at his mother. She smiled and squeezed his hand before letting it go. Like an adventurer pursued by lions Sparkles sprinted to the park, grin wide across his face as he leaped on a swing.

Higher and higher he propelled himself, whooping with joy and gazing up at the lightening sky. He savoured in this freedom and let it easily fill every fiber of his being until only pure happiness remained.

All too soon, however, he felt a sharp pang of concern, eyes darting to the path nearby where his mother had slowly ambled further and further away. Letting out a slight gasp he gripped the chains of the swing and timed it so that the momentum of the forward motion propelled him towards her. She wasn’t too far away, turning back to gaze fondly at him as he jogged roughly in her direction, zipping between the climbing frame and roundabout.

The last obstacle in his way was the stepping stones, concrete with worn animal faces carved into the sides. They lined up perfectly in a zigzag to his mother, presenting an opportunity he just couldn’t resist. With a determined smile on his face he leapt across each stone, arms out for balance and eyes aimed low.

_**T͡he͟ s̵te̸p҉pin͢g sto̧ne͡s͠ ̸in ̴th̢e̴ p͜ar͡k.͘ ̧Hi̡m̵se̛lf͡ jumping҉ ̛b̢ȩt͡w͠ee̢n ̵the͜m. T̢he ҉final͝ on̕e p̶rov͟e̡d toǫ f͟ar̡ ͢and ͟hi͟ş f͞o̕o͝t o̷nly ҉just s҉c͏u͠f̵f͝ed ̛t͏he͏ e͞d͢ge. H̕e̷ f̨ell ̕forwards͘ wit̷h̵ a ͢y̵e͝lp͠ o͝nt̶o th̶e̢ ̢h̛a̷r̵d͘ ̕t͢armac.̵ His ͡moth҉e͜r ca̵llin̴g ̡his ̡n̢am̶e ͠in̨ fear.**_

His wandering mind snapped back to reality just as he stumbled on the middle stone, regaining control of his balance just enough to jump and crouch land on the ground next to the final steps. He was breathing heavily, sweat gathering on his palms as he gazed with fear up at the stepping stones.

He tried to make sense of the brief moment he’d had of an out of body experience but found the sensation terrifying. It had been himself he’d seen. He’d been wearing the exact same clothes, hair the same, smile the same. The only difference was that he’d potentially cracked his head in what he’d seen, while veering off course just in time in reality. He amused the thought he was potentially psychic for a moment before remembering the distrust powers brought people and grimly concluding he’d just been imagining a bad scenario. His mother had often scolded his reckless jumps across them and warned of the possibility of a cracked skull, which, he thought, was probably why that scene had occurred to him.

“Sparkles, dear, are you alright?”

He dusted himself off and looked towards where his mother had stopped and turned back round to him further up the path. He swallowed and put on a sheepish smile.

“Yeah, I just wobbled too much and fell. But I’m fine, I swear.”

She beckoned to him with an outstretched arm and he ran the rest of the way back to her for a tight hug. They fell back into comfortable silence as they continued on their walk. At the back of his mind, however, a niggling thought prodded him constantly: that hadn’t felt like a daydream at all.

*

Outside Birch Tree Primary School the distant shouts of excited children echoed in waves down the streets Sparkles was walking down. There was always the confusing moment when he wasn’t sure whether they were happy or afraid as he approached, the screams all sounding the same. It put him on edge after all the stories he’d heard of apathetic criminals running rampant in Minecraftia, his mother also with an unreadable face as they turned the last corner and reached the black, flaking railing of the entrance fence.

She may have been thinking about other troubling things, however, as stuck all along the roads there had been Wanted posters for the vigilante Sjinergy. The picture was blurry and showed a human-like figure flying in mid-air and shooting what looked like fire from his hands in good enough quality to make out his face. It was one of the best photos of him out there and had been taken by a child slightly older than him, much to every adult’s disgust. For £5000 someone with information that would lead to his arrest could call the police department section devoted to supers. The laminated paper sheets hadn’t been up the day before but already glasses, facial hair, and swear words had been scrawled on them. Supers, least of all Sjinergy, were not thought of highly by most, something Sparkles didn’t quite understand but grudgingly accepted.

Beyond the low gate that creaked as he pushed it aside his fellow students came into view, the noise reaching a crescendo. One two-story building curled in an L-shape around a playground barely large enough to contain the 500 children and parents in it, not to mention the rundown PE equipment shed that pretty much exclusively held basketballs and hula-hoops. The windows were thin and small, like a prison, Sparkles imagined. The brick walls had been bleached a dark brown with age and chipped away in some place due to being so brittle. The concrete ground itself was covered in tiny spider web cracks, some larger ones from wayward tree roots causing eruptions of small mountains and chasms that were quite the trip hazard, something Sparkles was painfully aware of.

With a heavy weight laying on his shoulders as he returned to school, which was unusual considering he generally looked forward to seeing his classmates, he let his mother’s hand on his shoulders guide him through the sea of too tall people. Eyes darting around for someone in his class he instead caught the eye of some brown-haired boy who nervously looked away the moment after the awkward contact was made. After that he was careful where he looked.

“Trekles, over here!”

Groaning loudly Sparkles followed the directions of his mother to the source of the voice. A short, scrawny woman with the same uniform that she also wore grinned and waved at them. He did not feel inclined to wave back. Her dark blonde hair was constrained in a neat bun, make up done to perfection. Harriet was his mother’s work friend and the nickname she gave her – Trekles, for Patreka – caused him eternal pain, since his own unique name had come from it.

“Good morning.” His mother said pleasantly, hands rubbing his shoulders to reassure him.

“Hey, sweetie. Looking good today. Have you seen all the posters of that ‘superhero’ everywhere?" She shook her head. "What thoughtless person he is to not take responsibility for all the wreckage left by after he wrecks the place.”

“Oh, yes. Yes, most of those people are though, aren't they? And, there just seems to be more and more of these dangerous powered people around, right?" She sighed. "The amount of roads and buildings he’s torn up is horrifying, especially when we're tax payers. Now, after what he did around my husband's work during a fight, I'm feeling very concerned about what he can do. I’m surprised the military still haven’t made a move to capture him yet to get him to face charges in court, or whatever justice they're after.”

“Maybe because he’s trying to be helpful and is a good person really.” The two mothers paused and looked at him. “He tries to save people, right? Just because he causes damage doesn’t mean he deserves to be locked up forever. He’s trying to do the right thing.”

Harriet face twisted into a grimace and his mother was clearly uncomfortable, sucking in a breath he recognised as the sign of a correction.

“Sparkles, dear, there’s a lot you don’t understand about supers and the...issues they are for others like us. He may try and help, but that doesn’t mean he should be let off easy for the rest of the things he does. Trust me when I say it’s not as simple as him trying to do the right thing, sweetheart.”

He shut his mouth and his face ferociously reddened. Embarrassed, he looked at his shoes and sulkily clenched his fists. His mother was right about most things but it seemed so unfair to think of people with superpowers the way she did. They returned to their conversation even while he fumed to himself.

“Anyway, how are you both?”

“Oh, we’re just fine, fine. Lalna’s going to see his father and sister in a few days so he has to work very hard to get all his work done now.” She sighed and put a hand on her hips. “I mean, honestly. Did he really have to move all the way to Minstral now that it's recovering? It’s just the next city over but so far away, and so inconvenient to travel to and from since they're still rebuilding the roads and train lines and everything.”

She looked back at a tall, blond boy sat on the concrete ground with his back against a brick wall. He wasn’t too far away but it was clear he preferred to be by himself, nose deep in a book about space travel. He was a few years older than Sparkles and they never really talked, despite Harriet’s desperate attempts to have a multi-generational family friendship. Lalna was simply a little too blunt for his liking and acted like he was way cleverer than him. His eyes temporarily rose to meet Sparkles’, nodding slightly before returning to his book. Sparkles looked around wildly, unable to work out a response and seeking some solution.

Eventually his mother saved him from both evils that day by dragging them away from Harriet’s gossipy conversation and socialising with Lalna with a “See you at work later.” She, like him, had an uncanny ability to tell when the bell would ring soon to announce the school day beginning. They found a relatively quiet spot near the door inside to his year group’s classrooms and hugged one final time.

“Have a nice day, darling.” She said, rubbing his back.

“I will.” He paused. “Will you be alright today?”

She pulled back from the hug a little and moved one hand to rest on the back of his head.

“Yes.” She met his eyes and smiled. “Dad will be fine, I promise. He’ll be back for tea tonight and then we’ll all get a chance to catch up and be happy. Alright?”

He nodded, for her good, and kissed her. He was unsure how much of that he believed now. He felt like he had last night, that desire for her to stay with him. He felt an overwhelming surge of isolation even though she was right next to him. He wondered how Lalna could possibly prefer a life like this.

With the shrill trilling of the bell the mood subtly changed, fear rushing up in his brain as children began swarming towards the door. Sparkles turned back to say goodbye to his mother, trying to resist the crowd carrying him away. He watched his mother get swallowed by the collective of parents, a sad smile on her face as she disappeared among the people.

*

His day hadn’t been as cheerful as he’d hoped by the time break time came. He’d wanted distractions, something to help take his mind off of things, and so far all that’d happened to him was embarrassing lesson after embarrassing lesson.

In literacy he hadn’t been reading along, but when called out on it he’d still managed to give a vague answer to hide from the teacher’s hawk like gaze. In numeracy he’d hadn’t been so fortunate and completely messed up his seven times table when reciting it out loud. Afterwards his teacher, Miss Ruby, had sternly taken him aside and asked why he wasn’t in a working mood today. He’d mumbled about his father working in Blackline Firm and that had instantly caused her to apologise and offer someone for him to talk to if he felt any worse.

To tell the truth, as he sat on a bench next to several other children, huddling together to keep warm with the stab of a biting cold March wind, his father hadn’t been his main concern at all. Yet again his dream had been playing on his mind, anxiously reminding him how beyond help some aspects of his life were. He’d beaten himself up for not mentioning the dream and daydream at the park to his mother, and only the promise of an opportunity to tell both of his parents at home about them kept him going.

“Hey.”

He turned to his right, surprised to see that the brown-haired girl there was talking to him after previously laughing at his misfortune during numeracy. She was small and had round features, squinting despite her glasses in a way that suggested she might need a new pair.

“Yeah?”

“I’m just saying hey.”

“Oh. Well, hey back.”

“Do you like cats or dogs?”

He hesitated, seriously considering her question for a moment since he had nothing better to do.

“I like them both, to be honest.”

“Yeah but which do you _like_?”

Thinking back to his grandparents’ old pet, a sheepdog called Ghost, he opened his mouth to give that automatic answer.

_**Her pencil case was pink and decorated with caricatures of different shaped and coloured cats.**_

He couldn’t recall really noticing it before, yet the image still sprang to the front of his mind instantly. One odd thing about the thought was that it was from a third person perspective, although minds and the imagination were weird things. Reckoning he didn’t have anything to lose he decided to jump on this opportunity.

“Cats are pretty cool.” He said, shrugging a little and watching her reaction.

To his surprise her face lit up and he instantly felt a little more comfortable with himself.

“I love cats too. Like all of them. Even the hairless ones that are very ugly. Oh, and kittens are so extra cute!”

Sparkles felt like he’d finally won a game of bingo quite unexpectedly. Zoning her out for a moment he tried to work out how he’d even gotten the image in his head of her pencil case despite never seeing it. It was possible he’d just assumed another person’s pencil case was hers and been lucky.

“That’s why you have a pencil case covered in cats? Right?” He asked slowly.

“Yes, it’s my favourite thing in the world. My daddy bought it for me on my birthday in January. He’s got lots of money because he works for Strifecorp and that means he can buy me lots of nice things when I'm good.”

At this point the boy on the other side of her chimed in. “My dad bought me a bike for the Winter Solstice.”

“My dad bought me a Game Boy.”

"My parents can’t buy me _anything_.”

They all turned to the boy at the end of the bench, interested in this downer.

“Why not?” Sparkles asked.

“Because they lost their jobs recently. Their companies were only little so they got bought by Strifecorp. I hope they get jobs again soon so we can eat something other than spaghetti. I really like spaghetti, you know? I’m just starting to get bored of it now, because it's been like two months.”

“My daddy works for Strifecorp so it can’t be bad.” The cat girl said.

“My mum said that Strifecorp is evil and the CEO is only after our money so that he can take over the world.”

“That must mean your dad is evil too!”

“That’s stupid.” She huffed. “And you’re all mean. I’m going to play with nicer people now.”

She jumped up and walked off, fists clenched. Sparkles, who admitted to himself he hadn’t actually done anything, watched her go, ignoring the laughing coming from the others on the bench. He didn’t know what he thought of Strifecorp, seeing as all he heard was the news of technological and business breakthroughs for the company and the odd mention of them as a serious competitor for his father’s company. Evil seemed such a strong word to use for a normal person who just wanted to make money, especially next to the murderers out there in dirty back alleys.

*

His day finally started looking up after they returned from lunch to Miss Ruby announcing they would be doing music for the last part of the day. Throughout the hour all the instruments seemingly passed through his hands, thanks to the friendly nature he portrayed to everyone, although his favourite ukulele seemed to linger in his grasp the longest. With tunes and melodies in his head despite the messy crashing of the other students’ attempts to play music, his heart soared and mood improved. It was, he mused, similar to the feeling on the swing he’d felt. Freedom and joy. Music was beautiful, he believed, more than Kate Winslet, his father’s laughter, and homemade chocolate cake combined.

Humming to a tune in his head, even as the instruments were placed tenderly back into their box, he barely even noticed the other children had sat down again. Losing track of where he was in this made up song in his head, he returned to the group, frustrated with his bad memory as he failed to retrieve how it went or where he’d heard it before.

“We still have a few minutes left until the end of day, it seems. Since you’ve all worked hard today I shall reward you with a reading from any book you choose.”

Despite the rustle of excitement within the cross legged students on the rainbow rug Sparkles was distracted at that moment. He knew for sure that they’d probably end up reading a short story from an anthology of some kind. All he was really worried about was that he couldn’t see his mother waiting with the other parents outside the window.

The calls for Greek myths was popular enough at this time of year, what with their special learning topic on the Olympics since it would be occurring that summer, and so a heavily illustrated but thin hardback book was fetched from the display shelf.

“Give me a random letter, somebody?”

He was the only one remaining quiet, something drawing Miss Ruby to pick on him.

“Sparkles?”

“Tea…um, ‘t’, please.” He blinked.

“Alright.” She leafed through a few pages and settled on a large two-page spread. “Are you sitting comfortably for this-” She pulled a face. “-two-minute story?”

With a chorus of yeses Sparkles sighed and paid some attention to her words. He hoped his mother would turn up soon, otherwise getting home would definitely be a problem.

“Once upon a time there was a very beautiful woman named Helen. She had two handsome suitors who both wanted her for themselves, but she could only pick one of them. When picking the Prince of Troy and sailing with him to his home the other suitor was enraged, heading to war against them. They fought for ten years until one day the wronged suitor had the idea to pretend to leave and hide inside a giant horse contraption to trick the Trojans into letting them into the city. Within Troy, the God Apollo had cursed a Seer called Cassandra so that none of her prophecies would be believed. She had predicted that Troy would fall, but nobody believed her. They didn’t expect the giant horse to have soldiers in them, and so they were ambushed and killed in the night.”

The bell pealed and the children instantly sprang to their feet, racing to grab their coats and bags so they could leave. Sparkles lingered, solemnly taking his time so that Miss Ruby would notice him. With only a few children left by the door she walked over to him and kept him company as the playground slowly emptied.

“Has your mum not turned up yet, Sparkles?”

“No.” He sighed. As if she couldn't see that. “She might be really busy today, what with the Sjinergy thing last night.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about your parents. She would have sent someone to pick you up if she was working overtime.”

They waited a few more minutes until the only people left were parents with dawdling children. One of them was someone he knew from his class, a boy called Leo. He had a passion for drums that Sparkles respected, although they hadn’t really spoken. Leo’s mother had spotted the forlorn figure still at the door and come over with a friendly look on her face.

“Is everything okay?”

“Sparkles’ mother is running late, it looks like.” Miss Ruby frowned, glancing back at the clock. “She must have been very busy if she wasn’t even able to call.”

“Do you live in the suburbs?” Leo asked him, running in at the speed of sound.

He hesitated, remembering his parents’ reminder not to speak to strangers before thinking how silly that was in this context.

“In the south, yes. Fern Lane, just past the cricket patch.”

“That’s not far, right, mum?” Leo said pleadingly. He smiled at Sparkles who decided the right thing to do was smile back. It felt good.

“Not at all. We can give you a lift, if you like?”

He thought for a moment, worried that his mother might appear at any second. He just really wanted to get home and rest, worn out after his awful day. Then again he also didn’t want to be home alone. 

Reluctantly he turned to Miss Ruby.

“If you can call my mum and let her know then I would like that, please.”

“Of course, Sparkles. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodbye.” Leo’s mother smiled and waved, leading the two boys away from the door and out of the playground.

Heading to a black zafira parked just outside the school gates Sparkles began lagging behind. He was still feeling nervous about leaving with someone other than his mother. More than that, after the destruction at his father’s work he couldn’t imagine his mother also getting hurt. He didn’t notice Leo walking next to him until the last minute.

“I’m sure your mum will be home for you soon. Then you can play the ukelaylayle with her, or, whatever you actually do at home, I don’t know.”

Sparkles appreciated his new friend’s attempt to cheer him up and welcomed a conversation into his interests. They were so engaged in talking about their favourite scenes in the Batman and Spiderman cartoons that he missed most of the drive back home.

“I went with Chikorita because they were so cute though.” Leo was saying, gesturing with a hand to show how small and adorable Phillip his starter Pokémon in Gold had been. “Also grass is like the difficult starting Pokémon of the three, so not only is he cute but also really tough.”

“I mean, they’re all pretty cute.” Sparkles grinned. “But I guess you could say I was playing with fire with Theo my Cyndaquil.”

Leo roared in distaste at the joke and Sparkles collapsed in giggle fit. He was surprised at how comfortable he’d become with Leo but not regretting his decision at all. All too soon the car slowed down at the top of the street.

“How far down is it, Sparkles?” Leo’s mother called from the front.

“Fourth on your left.” He said, hiding his sadness at having to leave Leo for an empty house.

He dejectedly removed his seat belt and opened the car door, stepping out once the car had pulled to a stop with his bag clutched loosely in one hand. Leo was still smiling at him, something that warmed his heart enough for a smile to return to his own face.

“Thank you for the lift, Leo’s mum.”

“Any time, Sparkles.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow and show you my Pokémon card collection. It’ll be fun.” Leo said eagerly.

“Bye, Leo. I look forward to it.”

He walked up to his house, Leo’s car lingering long enough to make sure he got in alright after retrieving the spare key from under the doormat of their house. He waved one final time until they left, the smile slipping from his face the moment they were out of sight. He shut the front door with a sigh and turned to the empty, silent house. The rooms were huge and dark without life permeating them, and Sparkles cautiously made his way through each room, feeling as if he was trespassing in a house not his own.

The home phone was flashing and it took him a minute to remember what button to press to find out what it meant. A loud beep made him jump before a robotic female voice announced he had **one new message**.

_“Hey, Sparkles, darling, I’m sorry I couldn’t come and pick you up. My work’s in shambles right now and it’s going to take some time to clear things up. There’s pizza in the freezer you can defrost - exactly like I taught you with the oven dials and timer, remember? – and feel free to watch TV. Dad should be back in the evening so you have my permission to stay up and wait for him. I really have to go now, but I love you Sparkles, alright? See you soon and be good.”_

Another loud beep announced the end of the message, but Sparkles stayed staring blankly at the phone. The sky outside was already growing dark and his stomach rumbled despite it barely being half three. Most of all, his heart and mind ached. It had been a long, long day, and now all he wanted was to lie down.

He padded into the lounge, gathering a soft blue blanket to wrap around himself, and switched on the TV, determined to find a cartoon to distract the quiet welling of tears in his eyes. He sat back on the sofa as he waited for the screen to switch on, curling up into himself.

This was just the kind of situation he’d wanted: a chance to prove how independent he could be. Now he was here, though, on his own in the large, empty house, it didn’t quite appeal to him. It was unbearably lonely for him, the silence heavy on his ears. He turned his attention to the screen and what program was on.

Much to his disgust he found it was an education program called Kal and Francis, an attempt to teach kids in a boring, patronising way. It was only kept afloat by Strifecorp’s funding, or that’s what he’d heard at school, anyway. It seemed like children hated the business more than the adults sometimes. In the episode airing the two boys were being shown how great buying things from the supermarket was through an annoying song and dance that made his brain cells shrivel up and die. Sparkles eventually found himself zoning out to the drivel, the lyrics of “Bread is great, don’t eat it too late!” and “Look at the ham I found, money makes the world go round!” zipping around his empty head despite himself.

Eventually he was able to extract himself from the sofa several episodes later, by which time Kal and Francis had gone through an entire shopping district. He was concerned that neither his mother nor father had turned up yet, but the call of pizza was too great for him to refuse.

It was simple enough to get it out, unwrap it, place it on a tray, and slide it in the oven. He set it to 180 degrees and left it for ten minutes wandering around the house impatiently until the timer went off. He remembered to put the oven mitts on before taking out the tray, safely switching off the oven and carefully cutting the pizza into slices. He spent another few minutes walking in circles around the house while waiting for it to cool down. He paced from the kitchen, through the hall, to the lounge, and back again, getting dizzy as he sped up after each cycle.

His head was starting to pound by the time he paused to sit in the kitchen, waiting for it to abate before tucking into his tea. The house wasn’t scary anymore, only sad. And also smelling of pizza. He ate alone at the table, therefore abandoning his knife and fork and just using his hands. He kept himself distracted by feeling proud for his achievement in making his own food. When finished he left the plate and tray in the sink, leaving the kitchen and dusting his hands off.

Sparkles was satisfied now, stomach full and the house no longer so intimidating. With this thought the desire to sleep returned with a vengeance, a yawn forcing itself from his mouth. He wanted more than anything to be there when his father came home, to be the one to greet him and see that he was alright. He was fighting a losing battle, however, and the temptation of his bed proved too great. He returned to the lounge to switch off the TV’s background noise and closed all of the curtains around the house. In the end he left the hall light on as he retreated upstairs, so it wouldn’t be so dark for his parents when they came home.

It was only 5:30 and yet he felt like he’d been sprinting ten marathons all day, not to mention his headache dug its claws deeply into his head. He undressed quickly and changed into his pyjamas, carefully hanging his bag on the end of his bed again. His giraffe was still guarding his pillow, although now on its side after having fallen down. He smiled and pretended that it was also as sleepy as he was, snuggling up with it under the cool covers. It didn’t take long for sleep to claim him, the nightmare from the previous night entirely forgotten.

*

_**A ͟ro̵o͝m ̡of̵ ͞co͝ld ͠t̵il̵es͘ a̕nd shar̷p̧ edges̡.̨ ̷Corn͜e̡r͜s̴ and k̷nive̴s. B̷lo̴o̵d̴ w̡a͟s spattere͜d̛ ̴ơn̕ the gro̧und͟.̸ ͘In͞ t̶h̕e ̧c͢e̸n͏tr̵e ̛was a̸ c͏h͘air.͏ Tḩe͟r͏e w̵aş ̴a̕ ma͟n in i͏t͡ an ͝olde͜r cơlle̴g̛e̸ ͡stu̸dent h͘im ̷s̕h̢a͜ck̸led͜ ͡by t͏h̸e ̵arms ̧and l͏e͠gs. ͜B̧lo͏od cam͝e̕ from͞ h͢is͏ ̛e̷ars ͢a͠nd͟ n̵ǫs̕e͏ ͡dr̡y an͡d͢ fre̸s̵h ̡i̷n̛ lay̛e̴rs͜. Te̸ar ̨t͜r̶ac̴k̷s̵ ̷we͘re d̴own ̸h͟is g̢ru̷b̷by f͏açe ̢e͢ye͡s ̛d̷e̢sp̸er̸a͞te. L͏ea͞n͞ing over hi͏m̨ w̢as̸ ̕a ͝fi̡gure ͝i̷n̨ ̨t͞e͠c̕h͞n͜o̢ ̵armo͝ur̸ gre͢en̨ ͝l̢i͢g̴ht̢s̨ fla͡s̷hin̡g̕ o͞n t̷he͡ h͞e͟l̨m̵e͟t ̸gauntl̛et̕s b̧oots.͞ ͜The͟ mo̧me̵n̛t s͘t͜re̡t͘ched ͞a̶nd t̕he̵n t̷he ̸fi̛g͢ure ̧h͟e͜l̨d a̡lǫf̶t̡ ̷a scalpel bl͏a͏de in one̷ ̴h͞and ̶o͡n̡e of ̸th͡e few ̧not͢ ̸st̨ain̶ed͘ ͏wi͟th͞ h̡is blood.̨ Th͜ey͠ ̧g̵r͘a̢şp͢e͝d̢ hi͡s h͡ead̷ by̕ hai̵r a̷n̛d ̢lif͞te͏d ̢him so th͝a͞t͟ h͢is th̡roa̡t ̵was e̷xpo͟se̴d.̛ He ͏s͜cr̛e̛a̧med̢ a͝s the ̴kni͟fe͢ w͡a͜s r̛o̡ug̢h̡ly d͠raw͝n acr͢o͟s̛s͞ hi̛s̷ ͞throat͡ blo͜od sp͏rąying ̧oņ h͘is͞ bo̴d͞y̡ and͞ th̸e ͡a͜rmo͘ur̢. He k̶ep͘t ̸g̵asp̕i͏ng͏ ͠even a͏s ͢he chok͡e͜d̸ t̴he͝ p̧ain ͠w͘a͜s ̡a̧wful aw̢f̡u̕ļ.͞ It wa͠s̵ numb̛ ̕wet̕ ̢c͜ol̨d͠ h͞e co͘ul̴d͘n't̴ tak̵e̸ in a͡ ̷b̛reath a̵nd̛ ̴he ͡flo̷und̴ered̨ he͞lples͜s͘. Stil̛l͏ wh͝y hi͜m̨?**_

_And then the scene changed._

_**T̵all buil͘d͞ings ̸lit͠ up̡ w͏ith͝ ne̵o͘n̡ l̵i̵ģhts̷.̕ Office sk̛ysc̸r̛a͘p̕e̕r̶s ḩi̴s fatḩer͢'s͝ in͞ t͡he c͢entęr iņ ̢f͜oc̛us. Ą ̡countdo̵w̷n̷ dee̷p u͠ņder͞gr̷o͠u͢nd in b͡a͞s͝em̸ent found̛at͘io͟ns̵. An ex̷p͟l̡osi̷on͠. ̶H͜eat͟ lig͝ht ̵p̧a͏i̷n ̷fire̡ s͝çr̴e̶am͠s ̢s͏cr̴ea͜ms̕ S͡C͘RE̕AMS̨**_

Sparkles screamed and screamed, eyes open but seeing nothing but the fire, his end, even as only his room was physically in front of his eyes. He was sobbing out loud, painfully, gasping for air and crying out with the hurt he'd felt. He couldn't think, couldn’t really make sense of anything after that. Finally remembering, finally knowing what had haunted his sleep all this time. His eyesight was blurry and he wobbled as he stood, still crying and wiping tears, snot, and saliva off of his face. He pulled back his curtain, straining to see. He had to be sure, even though he already knew.

In the distance a huge smoke plume rose within the city skyscrapers, sirens wailing along with Sparkles as he crumpled in on himself, hurting, empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Jazzhands*  
> Thanks for reading this because I know it looks very long and intimidating for fanfiction of an AU told through fanart. I would just like readers to note I'm currently doing exams in school and so writing the chapter has been slow. Please forgive my slow updates because I am a incredibly talented procrastinator and I actually finished the second half of the chapter instead of revising. I do, however, have the entire fic all planned out and I fully intend to see this to the end.  
> Again, reminder that my fic for this AU is only semi-canon and I'm sure the actual SuperYogs!Sparkles is living a less awful life (one can hope, anyway).  
> Any comments, criticisms, or theories are welcome (because I have no friends into this AU to yell at).  
> 


	2. Stressed Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graduation of Secondary School grows near, but Sparkles, despite respite from his friends, can't quite shake his unwillingness to go to the Assembly and shake the Mayor's hand, as well as being troubled by déjà vu and painful headaches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introduction to swearing because our protagonist is now sixteen years old and has picked up some things in the nine years between the chapters.  
> Also, yes the titles are based on songs that have relevance to the chapters and form a playlist by the end.  
> Here we're also getting to see the earliest of SuperYogs events, though Sparkles being Sparkles he's not very good at seeing anything really interesting to us yet.  
> Again, if there's something here you think should be tagged, because Sparkles isn't going to be the only one with power related problems, then please say.

It was wet and cold outside and Sparkles was glad of it. His last exam had been the day before and he'd struggled conjuring specific historic dates for the questions. This hadn't just been because his revision was brief, but because of the immense volume of the rain hitting the roof and bouncing off the windows, pinging like worn coins on the glass. The fact he got absolutely soaked both entering and leaving the hall probably didn't help.

All he could do now, free of school obligations and motivation to get up before 10AM, was sit and recover from the stress of the tests and hope that his graduation assembly would be sunnier, so that wearing his suit wouldn't be the most dreadful part of the day.

He really didn't want to think about the last time he had to wear a suit when it was raining.

_**A̷ ̶w͏͜ęt̀ ̵̡f̴re̵s͏h̀ ̧͜g͏r̡̛avèst̶̢o̶̸͜n͝e͟͟.͜͏̶ ̴̸D̷̕r͝͏o͟͡p̢l͝ets͝ ̀o̵͘͜f̧ ̀r͏a͢in ̷͏t̕r̛i͞c͞͠ķ͞͡l̢i̴͝n͜͟g ̸d͘o̶͜͞w̸̷͞n ̕t̸h̡͠e̕ ̴si̕d̕͡e ̢̕a̕͢͡s͟͡ ̨t͟h̛͝u̕n̢d̸e̶̸͢r ́͜͞rum̴͘͘bles̵̨ in͢͠͠ ̀͝t̶̛͟h̸̷e̛ ͘ḑ̵͞i͘s̶̛t̨͘͞a͟n͏͠c͏͘ę̢͘. ͘A͏̨ ̸͝s̸̀͜h͏̸͡a̡k̸̛i͠n͢ģ͜ h͞͏̨a͘n̛ḑ̢͘ t͞r̶̛͘ą̶͏c̸i͞n͞g̷̸͜ ̸͠͞the l̡͢e̶͘t͏̸̸t̸̵e̡ŗ͢i͟ņ̶g Ņ̨IL̷̡S͘**_

Sparkles woke himself up from his thinking in surprise, clutching his head as it began pounding suddenly. His father had been called Sparren not something beginning with… He frowned as he found he couldn't remember…an…M? No. An N? Yes, that was it.

He shook his head and felt a headache pulse stronger after having strained his memory so hard. He needed paracetamol or something equally as good at relieving pain. The rain must have been getting to him, probably.

Sparkles thought himself lucky in that he had study leave and a day free before the leavers assembly to take a breather. He reckoned that a headache like the one he was developing would have absolutely sucked to have mid-exam. Grade threatening, perhaps.

Groaning to himself he stood up from his window sill, popping his joints as he carefully stretched. Abandoning his DS still trilling the battle music for Pokémon Diamond on his bedside table he headed out of his room. He paused at the door and looked back inside at everything, nostalgia filling him. Although the Star Wars alarm clock remained, the Spiderman mirror had gone, the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling having mostly fallen down. All signs of his childhood interests, bar Pokemon and Legend of Zelda, had been stuffed in cardboard boxes and hidden under clothes on the floor of his wardrobe. Although he still had a computer and desk they had been upgraded to handle better looking games and space for revision textbooks. An electric keyboard and acoustic guitar lay in the corner, a mess of dirty clothes and textbooks no longer required surrounding them.

Sparkles decided he'd find motivation to clean it later today, seeing as he couldn't bring himself to do anything this early in the day at 11:21AM. But not that soon, he thought, walking carefully down the stairs as he grasped his head and winced with each downwards movement.

It was scary how suddenly it'd come on, now that he thought about it, seeing as he'd just been sitting there. He wondered if he was coming down with a virus of some kind, painfully aware of how cold season had been running rampant around school – at least two sniffles a minute in the most recent exams, not to mention the occasional coughing competition between several people with tickly throats.

Regardless, he was glad it was coming on _after_ his exams were finished, allowing him to recover at home where medicine was freely available, no matter how agonising the pain was for him.

Eventually he made it down the hall and to the kitchen, too zeroed in on the medicine to pay attention to the decor of the hall. Sparkles reached into a nearby cupboard, now within his reach with more than a foot of height now aiding him, and pulled out an empty shoebox full of plasters and various mild pain relief tablets. Taking his left hand off his head for a moment he grimaced, grabbing a box of paracetamol and one of ibuprofen, considering which one to go for and in the end sticking with his first thought. He meticulously pressed the pill out of the packaging and neatly arranged the medicine back in its box before replacing it in the cupboard.

Sparkles felt around in another one, this one to the left of the sink and window showing the back garden drowning in the onslaught of rain. He brought out his favourite small glass that was actually an empty Nutella pot, giving it a quick once over for any dirt in the bottom. Satisfied, he placed the pill in his mouth while switching the tap on and filling the glass with one hand, temporarily removing it from his forehead. He drank a little and put the glass down to switch off the tap and dismiss the running water. He tried to swallow the pill a first time but it ended up at the front of his mouth. Fortunately, he could recall a comment online that a clenched fist shut off the gag reflex, that issue quickly solved. He thought only for a moment about the other strategic use of shutting it off and then quickly banished it as his mother’s mug collection made him feel guilty about such things.

He held the glass in one hand and leaned his back against the sideboard. He grimaced at the ironing board folded up against the wall, a reminder of the work his mother had gone through to make his cheap, second-hand suit look good. There was a brief urge to throw it away to avoid going tomorrow, though he knew that was hardly a good excuse and didn't want to waste her efforts. It had been a very hard few years for them, but for her especially. He had pretended he hadn't heard her crying when they ate breakfast in the mornings or noticed that the birthday presents had been less and less new looking. It was difficult to accept things from her, ask for food and clothes he wanted, the weight of her desperate pay cheque hanging heavily over them. She'd been looking up Property Buyers the other day, Sparkles blinking away frustrated tears as he'd stared at the pencil growth chart of his on the kitchen doorframe. He wanted to have left a mark on this, his childhood home, and it hurt to think about leaving it.

He walked aimlessly around the downstairs of the house, a placebo effect of the medicine being that the throbbing in his head lessened as he followed his typical routine. He trailed his empty hand along the walls and remembered what had been, what might have been.

He sometimes choked up at night with the realisation he could no longer clearly remember his father’s face, his voice. He never got to see him move up to Secondary School or write his first proper song or get slammed by puberty like a sledgehammer. He was distant, meaningless now. 352 people had died with the fall of Blackline HQ, the rest of the company not lasting much longer after that. Most of the city had screamed accident, faults, supers; Flametongue, the villain captured the day beforehand had been grimly ejected into the Sands after a unanimous court verdict.

Sparkles had been one of the few to believe the conspiracy theories about sabotage from a competitor, though no-one could prove anything, least of all him.

What he did know, as his eyes fell over the emptiness of the house, alive with him pacing in it but otherwise dead with his mood, was that he had to stay around, do something. His parents hadn't fought all these years for him to have some kind of safe life just for him the throw it away with grieving. Everything he did was to give his father's life a point and for his mother’s good. Every wayward thought that might deter him he buried in the oceanic graveyard of failed dreams and fears, sinking them with numb determination. What else could he do but be there for his mother, his friends? He wasn't the only one with issues in the city, he knew that very well.

He wanted the pictures he'd drawn torn down now. That was a very different him who'd dreamt of things like that. The pictures, his eyes skipped over. His father was dead and he was ashamed he dwelled on the memory of someone long gone, even though all he wished to do was move on. The unwavering beating of rain was maddening, this silence behind it within the house was so loud. He put down the glass he was still holding on the living room table as he came to it, pausing in his steps to walk backwards and place a coaster under it as he recalled his mother’s phantom reminder.

His head ached stronger as he threw himself up the stairs, reaching his room and lying breathless on his bed in an attempt to lose something, rid himself of thoughts, calm down. He scrunched his eyes closed and lay on his back, clasping his ears to try and drown out the noise. He tried breathing but it did little but add to the cacophony of his throbbing head, the rush of blood, the trilling battle music, and the ever present rain.

Mentally he imagined leaving behind the pain, extracting himself bit by bit from his limbs, his consciousness a tentacle mass of light a small distance from his hurting body. It wasn’t real and he knew it, but through breathing he calmed as the minutes went by. A larger raincloud must have passed over as the pattering grew quieter again and Sparkles slowly gathered himself.

His head was better now that the sensory overload had passed, the medicine had reduced the pain to a slight nudge in the back of his head. He decided on taking two pills next time.

As he lay on his bed Sparkles removed his hands from his head and opened his eyes. The isolation of the empty house had been preying on his mind the whole of the study leave period. Recently Diamond was proving less and less distracting, the climax of today being the return of the malicious migraine that sometimes bothered him. He missed the days before he had inexplicable headaches triggered by weird thoughts, when he had actually had proper interests.

His enthusiasm for things he wasn’t good at, like drawing and riding his skateboard, had wavered, and even his interests were looser in his passion for them. He didn’t like seeing his entire childhood packed up into boxes because he wasn’t into them anymore, paining him somewhat. It felt sad, like he was killing a point of his life. It was necessary, though, to move on from his father. He had to.

Sparkles sat bolt upright as his DS stopped playing music, hurrying over to check it was alright. He let out a disappointed huff at the blank screen. He must have forgotten to charge it and left just before the red low battery light came on. Now he had no choice but to find some other distraction for the afternoon. Truthfully he felt like he was within his right to talk to someone now that he had a lot to complain about.

He shut his DS and found the charger for it. He wiggled under the bed to the plug sockets and swapped it for his phone charger, leaving it to return to life. It struck him hard at that moment he hadn’t saved for a while and took a minute to groan into the carpet to cope. He dragged himself to his feet with his Nokia phone in hand and sank onto his bed, reaching out for his giraffe next to his pillow for support.

He didn’t have many contacts compared to many of the people at school, but that was something he was glad of when it came to the huge bills their parents complained of at the end of the month. He took a moment to smile at his wallpaper, a picture of Leo’s face as he caught a Shiny Legendary in Pokémon Platinum, before delving into his texts. He read over the most recent names: Leo, Mum, Parv, Kogie. The other contacts he had were either his mum’s work, emergency services, or the numbers of the few others who he’d been to a mutual friends’ sleepover with and hadn’t really talked to since.

As if his touch had been a signal he was open to communicate the screen lit up to partially blind him and announce a message from MUM MOB.

He felt a surge of affection as he opened the message to see the large amount of kisses at the end.

_Are u awake? If yes i love you and hope u are staying dry. If u r still asleep thats ok though it still stands for when u do readt his. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

Sparkles paused, wondering if he could reply and tell her he wasn’t feeling well and maybe he shouldn’t go to the assembly tomorrow. But she’d worked so hard for him to look smart. He bit his lip and sighed. Hopefully if anything came up he could just swallow a lot of medicine and it’d all be fine. There wasn’t a need to get his mother involved. His phone lit up again and he frowned at her new message.

_If you are lonely dont forget to arrange with your fiends how theyre getting to the assembly. I doubt they will be riding their bikes over in their fancy suits darling. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

He looked distastefully at his phone and turned to his giraffe for council. His loyal plush had been with him through everything and even when Sparkles was doing his best to leave his childhood behind he couldn’t let this bit go, often whispering his concerns to it when he was alone in the house at night.

He tried to imagine Kogie wearing a fancy coattail suit while trying to cycle up a big hill and found the idea very funny, especially with horns, a spiked tail and a fiery aura when considering the typo. But he wasn’t about to punish his friends for lacking rides to school when he’d often had to rely on them. It was funny in a different way how he’d swapped one parent forever at work for another who had no choice but to do the same. He was older now and could actually take care of himself on his own, but still.

He mused an answer, deciding to stay far away from his headache so that she wasn’t worried for him at all.

_Im good mum just a little lonely after my ds died im going to text the others and see what times well go get them x_

He sent the text and started typing one to Parv, seeing as he was the one who’d first asked for a lift. He sent off a simple ask for a pickup time to him, managing to send one off to Kogie as well before his phone buzzed and interrupted him. He nearly dropped it in surprise.

It was a reply from his mother, quicker than usual, it seemed. Perhaps she was taking a toilet break, Sparkles thought to himself.

_If your feeling really bad y dont u go c leo? U can sort out things 4 tomorrow and play games together. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

He looked at the text for a while, allowing replies from Parv and Kogie to come to confirm pickups around 8AM as he considered the suggestion. He hadn’t yet messaged Leo so that wouldn’t be too much of problem. He glanced outside at the rain, the sky outside dark grey and with no obvious signs of clearing up any time soon.

Sparkles started preparing a text to Leo, moving to stand by his desk so he could check out his game collection.

_Hi man is there any chance i can come over and chill? Mum suggested i socialise and arrange the lift for tomorrow and i kinda want to play games bud._

He bit his lip in thought for a moment before finalising his decision and sending off the text. The phone he placed down carefully next to his copy of Prince of Persia, old and scuffed from a charity shop game bin. His entire game collection was either his parents’ or scooped for a bargain for being preowned. Not that he wasn’t saving up for a few interesting looking titles in the future, Assassin’s Creed II, for one.

His desk vibrated and a biro rolled off the edge. He gazed at the pile of clothes it’d disappeared into and knew it was a lost cause. He picked up his phone again and read Leo’s fast reply other and other again.

_Hell yeah, man. I’m working my way through TR.A right now and I know how much you like watching Lara wielding those guns. Mum will supply snacks too if you look starved :)_

He thought about the last thing he’d eaten: two Weetabix when he’d first been conscious enough to leave his room. He could use some lunch sometime soon, and Leo’s mother had proved herself as more than able to make good food. He would kill for some of her scrambled egg at that moment, mouth starting to water.

_Im on my way see you in 30 mins._

*

Sparkles squinted at the ground in front of him, raincoat’s hood pulled low over his eyes. His ears were covered and he could hear little other than the thud of blood in his head, his slightly gasping breaths, and the patter of rain on the cloth and path in front of him. A blot of rain hung on an eyelash as it dripped from the hood and he reached up a hand to wipe it away.

Every so often a car would drift past and he would watch as if far away, centered on his own discomfort rather than those sheltered and warm. The lights on some of the cars would be on, reflecting off of the road so that he didn’t even have to look up to see them coming. A rush of tires through puddles and he would instinctively shift further to the left, just in case. He’d almost walked into someone at one point and from then on glanced up every so often to avoid embarrassment and having to stay out longer. Everything blurred around him as he walked, disjointed. The faces behind the windscreens melted into a mirror, the world smudging as if he was looking through a pair of glasses he didn’t need.

He found his eyes drawn to the posh looking jeep that drove by, stark in a neighbourhood where people didn’t need to off-road or flash any excess cash on a vehicle that couldn’t even leave the city walls. He couldn’t make out the figure, thanks to distance and the whirling windscreen wipers. Sparkles wondered if the person could even see out at all. Or perhaps the intention was not to.

He wondered if he would ever get anywhere, a decent job like his father, or a better one. He thought of his mother, counting pennies in a jar. He was one of several million in a place where work had only a few spaces for those looking for employment, and he knew he had few of the skills to even begin to look. The thought of approaching someone and offering a CV or asking for any vacancies made him shiver involuntarily. It didn’t matter what kind of encouragement the adults in smart suits gave as the teachers echoed it with less charisma.

What he did have, he knew for certain, if nothing else, was his music. He’d grown up and maintained his passion for the melodies he caught randomly in the street and from a spurt of static on the radio. He managed to harmonise perfectly for a performance on TV when he’d thought he was alone and discovered an acoustic guitar on his bed a month later. He had taught himself how to play from humming and YouTube tutorials, eagerly searching up the chords of songs he’d heard and recreating them if something felt wrong when he played. He’d quietly promised himself if he never found a way to make money as soon as he was old enough he’d use his music to earn something. And even then, if music could make him feel like there was some meaning in the world, perhaps he could pass the feeling on to others.

If there was one thing he could thank Strifecorp for it was their connection to the rest of the world outside of the walls. Minecraftia could feel very isolated at the worst of times, and William Strufe's global enterprise gave people opportunities in other places. Despite that, sometimes he felt all he could do was remain where he was, instruments and microphone on hand. With no higher calling then his music, especially with pessimistic ideals about his grades, he felt uncertain about the security of his dreams.

His thoughts swirled around him, zoning out from the approaching jeep. The driver had probably got lost in the suburb streets and turned around. The falling raindrops hovered momentarily in front of him as he gazed through everything.

**_Ra̢in ̴f͏e͜l̷l ͢rel̢eņt̴les̡sly͘ a͏s ͞p͠udd́l͠es ̸s̡pi̶l̷t͞ ͢in͡t̶o̶ ̡o̡ne͝ ̕an̵o͢t̀h̀er. S͠p͟ark̀l̷es͟,͡ h̕i̷mself͜ f͘rom ̸a̸ th͞i͏r͡d͟ pers̛on͟ ̷vi̴ew, ̕walking d͜ơwn t͜hé ͟st̵reet,͝ ͢wet͞ and́ ̧m͏is̀e͏r͘abl͠e.͢ ͡H͢is g͜az̛e ͟was ̷l͏o̢w and͠ empt̶y̶ as ͏a jée̶p̀ turn̨ed̕ ͟a͟ro͜u͡n̛d͘ t̢hé ̕cornèr ̶a͟n̴d͟ d͞ro̢v̡e tow̛a̢r̕ds͟ ̀hìm͢.̷ ̨H͠is ́face ͘wen̵t̀ up ̵to͡ ̸s̛e̵e͠ thè v̀ȩh̨icle ̸and̴ ̡his͟ e͟x̸p͟reśşion ͢b̶ecam̨e̸ daze͟d.̷ ͜T͞he͏ ̨c̸ąr̛ di͝d́ not ̶slơw͞ down͡, ̴sendi̴ng a͘ shee͡t͝ of w͟at̶er a͜l̢l ͡ov̵e͝r ̸him. ͝H̶e͏ ̴g̸a͏s͢ped i̵n ͠s͡urpr̴i͏s̀e͠ ̕an͝d s̢t̛oo͝d ͠t̛h͏e͞re͟,̶ ̀ćh̛oki̛nģ._ **

He staggered and stopped instantly. He didn’t have time to draw a breath before a sheet of water struck him in the face. Droplets ran down his neck and up his sleeves, streaming down his hood. He coughed water out of his open mouth and tried to shake the water from his hands, forgetting while outside he hadn’t a hope. It took a few seconds to get a hold of his muddled thoughts before he looked over his shoulder. The jeep was long gone and seemingly uncaring. He felt his headache rear its ugly head ever so slightly and raised his middle fingers to the sky.

It took a few minutes for Sparkles to stop shivering, not just from the chill of the wind and rain, but also from the vivid déjà vu he’d felt again. He couldn’t bear to think too much out here.

*

“Sparkles, do you need a towel?”

He looked up from Leo’s bed, hair stuck to his forehead and hiding his eyes.

“Uh, I think I’ll be…”

“Chuck it in, mum. He’s trying to be nice and avoid being difficult again.”

He blushed and hid his face in the grey duvet covers as the door creaked fully open and she walked in.

“Wouldn’t want to leave you looking like a drowned rat. My conscious wouldn’t allow it.”

“You’re already drying my coat.” His words muffled by the covers.

“Do you think he needs a hot drink as well, Leo?” Sparkles felt the brush of terrycloth and instinctively gripped the corner of the towel to place it next to him.

“Do you want to change my nappy as well?” He muttered.

“Oh yes, definitely.” Leo replied mock cheerfully, answering both of them in one swoop while digging around in a crisp packet. “ _I_ wouldn’t say no to a hot chocolate either, personally.”

“I’ll bring them up in a bit then.” She paused, footfalls creaking on the floorboards. “And don’t play for too long on that thing, Leo.”

“You got it.” He replied, mouth full of crisps.

With Leo’s mother gone Sparkles sat up and turned on his friend reclining next to him. Leo’s room was slighter smaller than his, a slight claustrophobic sensation coming from the drum kit that took up a third of the room, his bed, wardrobe, dresser and bedside table taking up the rest. While Sparkles’ room carried the sensation of a childhood forcefully hidden, Leo’s showed no sign of ever being anything but a teenage boy’s. His room was painted a dark blue and gaming and anime posters were hung up wherever he could fit them, a large picture of Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft hung above his bed. His floor had stray socks and books scattered around, music sheets and trinkets - pens, pencils, stones and clay figures he’d shaped himself - stacked up on every available surface.

On top of his dresser at the foot of his bed was a TV and his PlayStation 2, old but loved. The cord for the remote was stretched from the console over the bottom of the bed and Sparkles’ legs to where Leo was. His collection of games was stacked next to the console, The Sims 2 on top of and hiding the other more violent ones age rated 18.

Sparkles would still often visit the charity shops with Leo to see if anyone had left a gem of a game they could buy. He began thinking he would have to buy more items from there soon to avoid emptying out the pockets of him and his mother. Fortunately for them, new consoles were already appearing, giving them to chance to buy things seriously cheaper and less age appropriate than what they would have managed a few years ago.

“Dude, what are you playing at?”

Leo had grown lanky in his teenage, his features making him appear older than he actually was. He had grown attached to a beanie he’d been gifted one year and wore it even today, indoors in the cool summer. Like Sparkles, he had adjusted to using a controller without looking, his thumbs moving constantly. The light of the screen reflected in his eyes and his tongue stuck out just the tiniest bit as he navigated the map filled with puzzles and enemies. There was a hilarity to how he looked, dressed in creased clothes he’d probably worn yesterday, that reminded Sparkles of the love he’d had for Leo for years. When he’d needed a friend he had been there, he and others now.

But that didn’t excuse him from being a patronising ass. He was just glad his headache had gone for now and didn't ruin the comfort he found here.

He’d huffed out a laugh and smiled, a slight cheeky turn up of his lips.

“ _Dude_.” He threw it back at Sparkles mockingly.

“Why would you tell her that?”

“Because it’s true. It’s true.” His face twitched as a failed jump took off a chunk of his health. “You don’t want to be inconvenient and that’s all well and good but…”

“But?” Sparkles said, finger winding the cable around itself. An intruding thought suggested he yank on it and disconnect the controller to annoy Leo. In the end he didn’t think it was worth pissing off his host so soon.

**_Lara's death was imminent_ **

“Well, think about me.”

“About you? Oh, you’re so gonna die _very_ soon.”

Leo had encountered an atlantean and run out of ammo for his uzis. He grunted in return.

“When you come round, sopping wet and drying your hair on my bed or not, it’s the best thing ever. _God damn it!”_

Lara lay dead on the ground and Leo put down his controller for a minute to gaze at Sparkles, who had felt up his damp hair and quickly began rubbing it with the towel to hide from the blame.

“Told ya.”

“Yeah yeah. Anyway, point is, if I ask mum to bring me a hot chocolate any other time she’d like ‘Oh, Leo. You’re so lazy. Get up off your backside and hoover your room. It looks like a bomb went off in here.’ When you’re here she’s more than happy to brew something up and bring some digestives with it.”

“So, what? You’re saying I have to take one for the team then, huh?”

“Yeah, man.” Leo replied. He snorted when Sparkles removed the towel from his head and his hair stood up. “Good look on you.”

He made a distressed noise as he was hit in the face by the towel and Sparkles was laughing at him when the game loaded his previous save.

“Oh, that’s better. Not seeing your ugly mug is great.” A thought struck him as he wound his finger in the cable again. “I bet you can’t play it blind.”

“I mean.” Leo, bundled up the towel and tossed it next to Sparkles. “Technically I can’t play it blind, cus it’s a remake and everything.”

“No, I meant doing it blindfolded.”

“Screw that, Sparkles.” He shook his head. “Only tryhards who’ve played this game a million times can do that.”

“Wow, Leo. You must be a noob then.”

“Kiss my ass.”

They were both smiling and watching the screen when Leo’s mum returned. In her hands were two mugs of hot chocolate, mini marshmallows floating in the froth but rapidly dissolving. She manoeuvred her way through the obstacle course of Leo’s room to the bedside table. She was well practiced in this, it seemed, finding coasters among empty glasses and drumsticks perched on it.

“Here you go, boys.” She extracted a packet of chocolate bourbons from under her arm and handed them to Sparkles. “And a little something extra for you both.”

“Thank you, Mrs Taylor.” He passed her back the towel after folding it. “For everything.”

“It’s my pleasure, Sparkles. I’m just glad you’re in here rather than in that awful storm.”

She had aged well, considering. Leo had not stressed her out too much in the years that had passed, nonetheless, she had frown marks and wrinkles on her forehead. She still had dimples though, and smile lines at her lips and crow’s feet at her eyes. She was older than his mother was, physically and by age, but she had an emotional youth to her, a vibrancy that Sparkles felt his own mother had lacked for a while.

“Will you be staying for the day?” She asked.

“I’ll have to go back for tea. Mum’s promised to be there.”

“I’ll make sure you’re fed with some kind of lunch like the rest of us soon, then.” She smiled. She went to pat his shoulder, thought better of it, and then withdrew her hand and started backtracking out of the room with dirty glasses in hand.

“Love you.” Leo said, feeling her eyes rake across the mess that was his room.

Her gaze softened. “I love you too.”

When she was downstairs 

**_Lara's death was imminent_ **

again Sparkles sighed.

“You’re not going to make that jump.”

“Not if when you jinx it like that. _Oh for fu-”_

Leo took a breath and reloaded his save when Lara had stopped screaming.

“Good method to get her off your back though.” Sparkles said, a reconciliation.

“What, death?”

“Telling her you love her, you numpty. It distracts her from the horrors within.”

“Yeah. I think she’ll twig onto it soon, though. There’s only so many times the power of love can blind her from my floordrobe.”

Sparkles thought about the relationship he had with his mother. He didn’t ask for much from her, aware of the burden his requests were on her. She still did little things for him, making him crumpets some mornings or ordering him pizza. He couldn’t think of a time where she had lost her temper at him in years.

“Anyway.” Leo continued, mouth full of biscuit. “What is your deal, man?”

Sparkles shrugged and stuffed a biscuit of his own in his mouth. He lay on his stomach and gazed up at the screen, Lara rolling and firing at the fleshy creatures that once upon a time had haunted his nightmares when he’d played the original game.

“You just.” He swallowed. “Kill me, you know that?”

“I do no such thing.”

“Alright, alright.” Leo shifted and his tongue pushed against his cheek as he processed a thought. “Will I make this jump?”

Sparkles looked at the edge he was rolling beside.

**_He'd make it_ **

“If you press the right buttons, yes.”

“Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t realise that this whole time.” He lightly tapped his forehead with his palm. “All my failures were button fuckups.”

Sparkles snorted. “Get on with the game, Leo.”

Leo hummed at him and raised an eyebrow at him. He easily made it across the wall jump with the help of his grapple hook and he nodded thoughtfully.

“You’ve said nothing wrong yet.”

“Oh, is it an experiment now? Are you going to create a spreadsheet detailing my predictions and whether they’re correct?”

“Nah, man. I’m done with that science stuff. I don’t want to hear about a line graph ever again.”

“Same.

**_Lara's death was imminent_ **

Still, you ain’t going to make _this_ one.”

Leo had opened his mouth just in time for Lara to take damage mid jump and scream to her death.

“Dude, please.”

“It’s a hard level. No need to feel bad about struggling.”

“Sparkles you must be magic or something.”

“Because I can kill video game characters with a damning sentence?”

“Because you know when Lara’s going to die before I’ve even fudged up my button pressing.”

Sparkles thought for a minute, about the déjà vu, the dreams and headaches, the night his father had died. While watching Leo playing he would have a thought, each movement playing out in his mind. Leo could fail anywhere, but he always had an amusing certainty, a concrete play out of the fuckup, whenever it actually happened.

“Maybe.”

“You have super powers I don’t know about, buddy?”

Leo was joking and Sparkles knew it, could hear in the rhythm and tone of his voice. Still, he couldn’t get an image out of his head.

While taking the bus with Leo home from school they’d seen a crash, several cars plough into one another at a crossroad. Before anyone could call the police a man had torn his way out of the wreckage with his bare hands, blood on his temple and arms. He had stumbled to each and every car as he sobbed desperately, yanking metal wreckage out of the way to pull others from the cars, alive or not.

The teenagers on the bus had watched and called him hero. The media and the city had called him dangerous. You couldn’t be a hero because the minute there was any kind of slipup they would be on your case faster than a cat on spilt chicken.

“I get déjà vu.”

“Like everyone else.”

“Exactly.”

“Know the lottery numbers?”

Sparkles pretended to muse for a second and let a random string of numbers leave his mouth. “Yes, 3, 8, 13, 19, 20, 27, l, m, n, o, p.”

Leo tsked and Sparkles was left to wonder for a moment whether he might have a chance to win if he took it seriously, as stupid as that thought was.

“I dreamed I died once.”

“Can’t be that accurate if you’re still around.”

“I bet you’re more psychic than me, then.” He teased.

“Sparkles there are socks in my drawers with more powers than I have.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, they lose their other pair and smell awful no matter how many times they’re sprayed with febreze.”

“Ugh. Your cheesy mutant socks were the last thing I wanted to hear about when eating.”

They were silent for a bit as Leo started running into cut scenes. Sparkles decided with a growing smirk to break it.

“I can’t tell you the winning lottery numbers, but you know what I can do?”

Leo glanced at him, eyes slightly narrowed. “I dunno, man, what can you do?”

“I can read your mind.” He paused and watched Leo’s reaction, then added. “With telepathy.”

“I know what the fancy word for reading minds is.” Leo said snarkily. He was concentrating so hard creases were appearing on his forehead. “Go on then. Tell me what I’m thinking.”

Sparkles decided to mess him around, rolling over to lie on his back. The ceiling was bland but he could just make out the top of Jolie’s head. “What, like, right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

“What you’re thinking about right now?” Sparkles nudged his elbow with his foot.

“Yes.” A little smile was pulling at the corner of his mouth. “You know I’m starting to think you’re having me on with the whole mind reading thing.”

Sparkles gasped with mock hurt and did his best to find calm in the pattern of the paint on the ceiling to stop from laughing out loud. “I was just being specific. No need to throw needless accusations at me.”

“And don’t say some crap like ‘You want me to shut up’.”

“I ain’t cheap, Leo.”

He only snorted. Sparkles cleared his throat and finally allowed his smile to appear.

“You’re thinking about how sexy Lara is. How wonderful her skull crushing thighs are and how pretty her face and hair are in high definition.” He sighed wistfully and sat up, reaching for his hot chocolate. “You only wish that her boobs were more triangular, like they used to be.”

“Oh, shut up, you twat.”

Sparkles laughed so hard the hot chocolate went up his nose and he hurridly put the mug down. The pillow Leo pummeled him with was part punishment part help, but even that couldn’t stop him from seeing a grin on his friend’s face as he kept spluttering.

*

It was barely drizzling by the time Sparkles was back home, turning the key in the lock. His head had grown hot as he walked and the rain was a cool blessing as he’d leisurely made his way back.

His mother’s car was in the drive, an old corsa with orange fluffy dice tied around the wing mirror. He tested the door to see if she’d locked it properly this time, and when finally satisfied, entered his home.

The first thing he did was hang up his coat and wipe his feet on the mat. The house was quiet, but a quiet that felt less empty than when the lights were off and it was just him. He kicked his shoes off in the gap under the stairs and stood for a moment, listening.

“Mum?” He called. “Where you at?”

He stared at the clock hung on the wall, arms stuck at 3:56. He couldn’t remember when the clock had last worked. He’d been meaning to ask his mother for batteries to put in for ages. It was one of the first possessions his parents had bought together when they’d first married and moved in here. There was a thick coating of dust on it that he resisted the urge to wipe off.

“In here.” Her voice came back, proceeded by a slight cough.

She was at the ironing board, changed out of her work clothes but with her makeup still applied. Her face had grown lined and the roots of her hair showed the grey strands she was trying to dye away. Her hair was still up in its bun, but as she watched him come in she smiled and reached up to undo it. He had often complained about how old it made her look.

“Hello, darling. How was your day.”

Sparkles took note of his leavers assembly suit lying on the board, iron on but temporarily put aside. She was being especially thorough in making him look the best he could. She was as excited for the day as he was dreading it. He didn't want the attention of everybody on him, especially the attention of the high up people presenting it.

“Hey, mum. It was pretty rainy and awful earlier. And I got a bit of a headache.”

He kissed her cheek and she rubbed his shoulder.

“Did you take some medicine then?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m just about fine now.” A partial lie.

Her lips were tight with worry for a second, before she let it go. Sparkles went over to the TV and switched it on, listening to the iron being picked up again.

“Did you talk to your friends?”

“Yes, they’re all going to be ready to be picked up at 8.”

“So we’ll have to leave a little earlier than usual.”

Sparkles nodded. “I’ll probably be able to drag myself up in time. Just in case you might want to poke me once or twice.”

“Naturally.” She laughed lightly.

Sparkles turned the channel to a comedy one. Reruns of a celebrity panel game show came on and the laughter of an audience from several years ago filled the kitchen. The iron hissed from released steam.

“Did you go see Leo in the end?”

“No, I just decided to walk around in the rain and brood. All day.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.”

He huffed out a laugh.

“Thanks.” He turned to look at her. “But, yeah, I did go round his.”

“Have fun?”

“Beat Tomb Raider: Anniversary finally.”

“Did you take turns then?”

“He let me take over when there were quicktime events. His mum made us scrambled egg and beans on toast for lunch and gave us snacks.”

“Hope you didn’t gorge yourself on them, dear.”

“No.” He said, mock suspiciously.

“Oh, I really believe you. And, what a pity.” She was smiling despite herself. It made him feel warm inside to see her happy. “I guess you won’t be able to eat tea tonight. All the more for me.”

Sparkles made a hurt noise.

“What, no. I’m always hungry, mum. You know that.”

“You want to know what we’re having tonight?”

“Is it cake? Nothing but cake?”

“Oh, Sparkles. You wish.” She shook her head, putting down the iron to attach the jacket over the shirt on the hanger “No, no. Look at the fridge.”

He turned, taking in for the first time the magnets of sheep, cows, and quotes like ‘Mothers are just angels in training’. His drawings were once stuck on it, but he didn’t draw anymore. Also, hanging up music sheets he usually hid from her wasn’t quite the same proud thing. There he saw a menu for his favourite expensive pizza place.

He gasped and felt out for it, taking it off the door and into his own hands. “Really?”

“A special treat. A reward for all your hard work.”

“But it’s so expensive.” He felt worried, frowning at her.

“It’s worth it for tonight.”

He paused for a moment and looked through it.

“Can I have a stuffed crust?”

“Whatever you want, Sparkles.”

*

They sat in the lounge until the sounds of the living city faded into the night. They were still watching the same comedy channel, now showing a panel of celebrities joking about the issues of the world and unimportant soap opera news. Sparkles was leaning on her as she scratched his head, therapeutic but unable to totally calm his growing nerves.

The storm had grown worse again, clouds blotting out any stars visible through the noise pollution. Rain fell so heavily he would quietly wonder if the satellite dish would be alright.

“It’s going to be an ugly night.” His mother had said as she turned up the volume.

The noise was loud and echoing again, aggravating his headache into just being at the edges of his brain. It grew worse when a rumble of thunder caught their ears. First dismissed as a lorry, this thought proved wrong when lightning began flashing. They couldn’t get a good view of it out the window but they could still imagine the strikes tearing bright lines across the sky. Sparkles was glad his mother was there next to him to keep him grounded and distract him. He thought he might have ended up repeating his sensory overload again otherwise.

He jumped at one point at the sudden roar of thunder over their heads, shaking off his mother’s hand to sit up and reach for his drink.

“You alright, dear? Are you spooked?” There was a slight teasing edge to her voice.

“No.” He said curtly. “I just…I don’t like it.”

“Alright.” She said softly.

They returned to watching the TV. Sparkles began debating looking for pills to take as his headache continued to hang around.

“You know…” His mother began. “This is the perfect weather to tell spooky stories.”

“If I was 8 years old, maybe.” Sparkles scoffed.

“Hmm, alright then. How about just something I heard once about storms.”

“Does a secret powered person make them?”

“I mean, there might be…someone out there who can do that. Not what I had in mind though."

She cleared her throat and put on a mysterious storyteller voice.

“I heard that once upon a time, when the world was in a primal state, magic existed similarly. There were entities that used it for their own deeds, to create and destroy. Entities that fed off fires, ones that shaped the land, ones that affected the day and weather.”

“Are you saying something’s deliberately creating the rain and thunder?” Sparkles asked, dubiously.

“People believed it once. To explain the world, they said horned and tailed creatures controlled what they didn’t understand.”

“And now that we do?”

“Those powerful creatures weren’t ever anything but a load of rubbish. Things to scare others about.”

“I’ve got something.” Sparkles said, thinking about anything he’d heard when myths were still a thing you taught to schoolchildren. “Creatures of hell and void, finding portals and hunting down civilisations to attack. Shrieking animals that flew and poisoned lands and ones of darkness that poured blood out of their eyes.”

“Ew.” His mother giggled. “That sounds like someone had a bad nightmare after seeing the things out in the sands.”

“There might be other dimensions out there, mum.” Sparkles said, imagination filled with memories of the little snippets of magic written in books. “Ones only mages can go to.”

“Maybe.” She said, trying to keep her tone neutral.

Sparkles realised they were heading towards dangerous territory. His mother didn’t like people with powers, or magic, especially after the death of his father. She wouldn’t be convinced otherwise, lacking positive examples as Sjinergy and other underground vigilantes hadn’t really improved their images or gone truly public. It wasn’t like any kind of business or government people talked positively about them, even the current increasingly popular once lawyer now Mayor Ridgedog. He’d come a long way from being a successful lawyer, getting the votes and hearts of much of the population. Sparkles, himself, couldn’t ever shake the creepy image of the billboard of Ridgedog from his mind.

“Leo once told me about a more urban story.” Sparkles lied, not willing to admit it was something he’d read on the internet.

A thunderclap went off and the atmosphere it contributed to was appreciated.

“Oh yeah?” She seemed happier to take this path, despite her raised eyebrows.

“Apparently, people who stay out late and who do stupid things like walk down alleys at midnight see…things.” He waggled his fingers to put emphasis on how spooky these things were.

“That’s stupid of them to expect anything else.” She said, tilting her head to look up at him. Half her face was in shadow, the other half pale in the light thrown by the TV. She looked ghostly herself in this light but her smile was nothing short of lovely. “Were these things muggers?”

“No.” He knew she was just playing along, but he allowed his face to fall and his tone to become more serious. “Like feeling eyes on their backs, turning to see a shadow shift, a glint of an eye. Sometimes a figure, crouched and watching them. Always they experienced their stomach dropping, the temperature some unbearable mix of cold and hot, a tingle down their spines.”

“Did they ever call the authorities?”

“Often they were too terrified to report it. Sometimes they would be blocked in by the figure and pass out in fear just to wake up alone. Police just think it may be a homeless person, a stalker at most, but no-one who’s felt that presence believe that.”

“Sounds like these people were probably drinking a bit too much if you ask me.” His mother laughed.

“Yeah, or were very high.”

They were quiet for a while, the good mood sobering between them. The storm raged on, though it no longer felt like they were in the middle of it.

“I know you were just trying to make me feel better by distracting me.” He said quietly.

She sighed and reached out to hug him. He allowed it but didn’t lean into her. Neither of them said anything for a minute.

“I know how much you’re worrying about being dressed up in front of everyone.”

He bit his lip. It wasn’t quite worry, just a feeling that this kind of thing was needless. His headache wasn’t the kind of thing her wanted to be in a stuffed assembly hall with.

“It seems pointless.” He said. “Why can’t we celebrate the end of exams with just the prom? I don’t understand why I need to stand in front of everyone and be applauded for doing everything they’ve also done.”

“You’ll be one among hundreds. Besides, it’s mainly for the parents.”

He sighed, uncomfortable.

“They’ll be talking about how promising all our futures will be as well. Looking us dead in the eye as most of us end up unemployed.” A little bitter edge had seeped into the voice. He had already tried looking for a weekend job and come up scarce.

“Sparkles, listen to me now.” He looked at her, lightning revealing the sharp features of her face. This was an adult sharing their hard earned knowledge. She placed her palms on both of his cheeks so their eyes met.

He took a breath. “I’m listening.”

“There nothing in this world that can scare you without your say. Not, monsters or people, or even yourself. You decide what scares you, reason with yourself.”

“Are you not allowed to be scared for me?” He asked.

“Worry and fear are two different feelings, Sparkles. You may worry about what you encounter at night but you don’t have to fear it.”

Sparkles breathed deeply. She took her hands of his face, smoothed his hair.

“It’s just an assembly.” He murmured. “Won’t last forever.”

“A quick walk and a shake of the Mayor’s hand.”

“I’ll survive.”

*

They went to bed soon after that. Hiding under the covers with the sound of the storm all around Sparkles found his dreams were filled with a violet sky and cracks of light searing it apart. It turned into Leo practicing on his drums for a performance while Parv and Kogie watched with him.

The sky was still dark when he woke up, head pounding and eyes aching. He’d lain with his eyes closed for an hour before his mother knocked on the door. Downstairs, she’d watched him stagger to his seat and help himself to coffee. The rain and his head were pounding, his teeth and fists was clenched.

“Are you feeling alright?”

Sparkles swallowed and scrunched his eyes closed.

“Head really freaking hurts.”

“Do you want some medicine? Is it bad?”

He nodded. “Definitely.”

They were bitter to swallow and he wondered if for the first time he was going to throw up for from the pain. He fought to eat as much as a single slice of toast as he could and managed to fit into his suit.

He stood in front of a large hall mirror and his eyes stared back, dark shadows underneath them. His lips were thoroughly bitten and his hair still resisted the comb he was attempting to use. Silently his mother came up behind him and took over, quietly exuding pride that almost made him feel guilty. The suit was a little too big, the cuffs dangerously close to covering more than his wrists and ankles, but it would work for today. She also wore formal wear, a lilac dress and black jacket that she’d probably last worn to a wedding. They stood afterwards and looked at one another in the mirror. She kissed the top of his head and smiled. All he could see was the photo of his parents and him from several years ago behind them in the hall.

By the time they were in the car, running to it to avoid the rain ruining their clothes, Sparkles no longer felt like he was going to throw up. He swallowed nervously and massaged his head. If how effective the medicine was yesterday was anything to go off by then it was going to be a rough day.

Sparkles closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing. He pretended he could locate each stabbing cell in his brain, that he could cleanse it with fire and match that pain. Thinking too hard about where he was heading to hurt, and opening his eyes and looking at more than the little streams of droplets running down the window was too much to concentrate on while moving.

Outside Leo’s house his mother had turned to him.

“Are you going to sit in the back?”

“Oh, right, yeah.” He replied, blinking.

It was better now that they were stationary and he managed to step outside the car and mess with the seat, fumbling desperately and ending up having it slam forwards and out of the way. Leo tapped on his back, spooking him almost as much as the seat had just as he was about to climb in the back. He was surprised he hadn’t heard his footsteps, despite the loud falling of rain.

“Quick, quick, quick. Budge up, budge up, budge, budge. Ugh, it’s disgusting out there, mum wasn’t kidding.”

Leo was soggily doing up his seat belt when Sparkles realised he was being asked something by his mum.

“What?”

“Pardon.” She corrected him. “Leo’s mum is waving goodbye. I was going to ask if you guys wanted to respond as we were driving away.”

“She said ‘Hi’ by the way.” Leo said, shaking his head flicking water everywhere. “This would’ve sucked a whole lot less if it wasn’t rainy and we didn’t wear such easily damageable suits.”

They waved a little through the window at the figure of Leo’s mum sheltered in her doorway. Sparkles watched his mother crank up the heating, the windows fogging up. He drew a smiley face on the window and turned to see Leo drawing a dick on his. He’d noticed the stern gaze of Sparkle’s mother in the wing mirror and sheepishly rubbed it off.

“It’s gonna get pretty packed in here, isn’t it?”

“Still got Kogie and Parv to pick up.” Sparkles sighed. “At least we’ll dry off quickly thanks to the heat of all our bodies close together.”

“Let’s try and keep sweating to a minimal then.”

“No worries, I always use deodorant.”

“As we all do." Leo looked over, noticing Sparkles was clutching his head. “Hey, you got that headache back from yesterday?”

“Yep. Gotta love cold season.”

“You think it’s still something to do with that? If you’ve had some kind of headache hanging around for about a day isn’t that bad?”

“We can’t really do anything but take pills.” His mother chimed in.

“Hey, maybe if you collapse you’ll be able to get a brain scan and medicine strong enough to help.”

Sparkles huffed out a laugh. “You think that’ll work?”

“If you go for it collapse in the Mayor’s arms for maximum effect.”

“I shall keep it in mind.” He smiled.

“I’ll be sure to take photos.” His mother teased. His fingers twitched but Leo didn't seem to notice.

“You go, Momma Sparkles, you go.”

“Leo, please.” She laughed. “I bet Sparkles doesn’t call your mum a name like that.”

“No, I call her Mrs Taylor, mother, because she has a last name.”

“Well, how dare I not have one.”

They stopped outside another house, a blur hurtling towards them. His mother reached over and opened the door, allowing Parv to launch himself straight into the last back seat.

“Go, go, go.”

They were already driving by the time he’d strapped himself in, hair anything but a neat parting.

“Hi, everyone. Good to see you all in these miserable times. Looking good, Momma Sparkles.”

“Thank you, Alex. You know, Sparkles, I’m beginning to remember why I don’t cart your friends around a lot.”

“Huh? What’s wrong with us?” Parv complained, winning smile on his face.

He was around the same height as Sparkles, dark hair constantly stuck up at the fringe, the only one of them with slight stubble, and gifted with the ability to be charming in any situation.

“Nothing, bud. We were just talking about how not having her last name makes Sparkles’ mum hard to call something that isn’t something referring to her being his mum.” Leo said, matching his grin.

“It’s a matter of ancestry choices, right?” Parv said. “You do something cool enough to be awarded a second name and forever more it’s know once upon a time a family member impressed some magical rich person.”

“Oh, so you’re both important, huh?” Sparkles smiled, still clutching desperately at his head, eyes shut. The headlights of other cars had made his eyes join the list of body parts that ached.

“Our family once was.” Parv corrected him. “It just allows us to be easily identifiable from everyone else. Like, do you have any idea how many Alex’s are out there? Being a Parvis makes things simpler.”

“You’ll still always be Alex to me.” His mother said.

“Yeah, it’s an adult thing, I’ve noticed. Everyone else calls me Parv.”

“Because there’s that girl Alex in school.” Leo said. “We want to tell the difference.”

“You’ll have to help me here. Is Kogie’s house 45 or 47?”

“First one.” Sparkles said.

Parv gasped. “Oh look, he’s already outside.”

“Is that an umbrella he’s got.” Leo leaned forward to get a better view. “What a nerd.”

Unlike his friends, Kogie took his time walking up to the car and getting in.

“Wotcha.” He greeted them. “Thanks for the lift.”

He settled down in the front, suit still perfectly dry.

“See, he doesn’t call me funny names.” His mother said as they pulled away.

“That’s because I can’t think of one time he’s ever called you something at all.” Sparkles said, leaning on her seat in front of him. “He always dodges around it with an ‘Excuse me.’”

“Oh, you got me guys.” He jokingly guffawed.

“We’re lucky.” His mother said, checking the dashboard clock. “We’re making good time and there isn’t much traffic.”

“That’s good, Sparkles doesn’t look like he could take too much of the drive.” Leo frowned at him.

“Yeah, are you doing alright, mate?” Parv asked.

“Just got a mean headache that won’t get lost.”

He smiled at the three concerned faces of his friends looking at him. Each one of them made affection well up inside him, a comfort to the dreadful beginning of the day.

“You caught the plague, mate?” Kogie asked.

“Hope not.”

“If you die, please leave me your music stuff at least.” Leo said.

“And do it very dramatically.” Parv added.

“Or do something much better and stay alive, dear.” His mother said, momentarily shutting up the boys as they recalled her husband’s death.

“Yeah, probably good if you hang around and keep doing your music thing with us.” Parv said. “Start a band one day.”

Sparkles sighed. “One day.”

“We were saying earlier that he should just pass out in the arms of the Mayor.”

“I think that was just you actually, Leo.” Sparkles rubbed his face. He could recognise the turns they were taking as they headed into the city. They’d be arriving soon.

“Do you think he’d bridal carry you away?” Parv laughed. “Like the pretty little princess you are.”

“Is he strong enough? You’re a big boy, Sparkles.” Leo said

“Am not.” He muttered, hearing Parv sniggering.

“Well, if he practises his press-ups as much as he practises the law I think he’s going to be pretty ripped.” Kogie said.

Parv properly burst out laughing and everyone looked over at him, even his mother who was trying to concentrate on the road.

“Yeah, sorry. I just thought about an election video of him just working out and looking like a fitness DVD presenter. It seemed much funnier in my head. God, I’m so sorry.”

“Just you wait until next year, boyo.” Kogie said. “Dreams can come true.”

“It’s not the Mayor I’m dreaming of, believe me.” Parv said impishly.

“And we’re here, thank god.” Sparkles’ mother muttered.

“We’re not the first ones here, looks like.” Leo said.

His mother parked up and Kogie stepped out, umbrella in hand. Parv did something that made the seat fall forward with a bang - which reassured Sparkles about his own issues with the chair - and the rest of them clambered out. They ran to The Minecraftia School, one of the two secondary schools in the city and the one they were all attending. The other one, Minecraftia High School, was right next the campus of The Minecraftia College of Knowledge. The naming of some places in the city made him feel incredibly less stupid when he needed it.

They’d followed other people into the main hall and found seats in the front with the other students, Sparkles kissing his mother goodbye before joining his friends in the third row.

“Good luck. I love you.” She’d said.

“You too.” He’d smiled back at her.

Walking down the central aisle, with the rafters making the roof reach a point above his head, reminded him strangely of the church near his home they’d visited once. The paintings of years of students stared down at him from the walls and the few large windows were grey with the rain, the light inside reflecting the chairs and people on the glass. The chairs were old and graffitied, but so was the rest of the school and its buildings each dedicated to different subjects. The paint was peeling off the walls and the wooden floor was heavily scuffed by many trainers, still, it was a decent place of learning.

Something Sparkles was thankful of as he sat down, head thumping to the beat of his heart, was that he looked just as wet and disheveled as everyone else. Everyone was talking to one another as they waited, chatter and complaints that rolled around the inside of Sparkles’ skull like a ball in a pinball machine. It was all he could do to sit there and control his breathing.

When their other friends, Nilesy and Panda, arrived Sparkles felt eyes on him.

“You doing alright, mate?” Nilesy asked, Scottish accent strongly twisting his words.

“Headache.” He replied, looking with pain up at a table on a stage set up at the front where several adults had just entered and sat down.

Sitting on newer, larger chairs was the Head Teacher and the Deputy Head, both in suits of their own and cheap jewelry, and, looking remarkably perfect in a room of soggy commoners, was Mayor Ridgedog. There didn’t seem to be one hair off, and even the shadow of stubble on his chin was exceptionally pulled off. Sparkles was hit with a jab of jealously without really knowing why. He was conversing with the Head, smiling charmingly at her and nodding every so often. Sparkles swallowed as his eyes glanced over the hall, making eye contact for the tiniest millisecond.

Sparkles hissed between his teeth and massaged his head again, wanting to keep the pain to a minimum.

“Do you need something?” Leo whispered to him.

He shook his head. “Don’t want to overdose or anything.”

“Hope this doesn’t last too long for your sake.” Kogie said.

While everyone else voiced agreements, Panda strategically sitting on the far left so that the eye he could see out of was on the side everyone else was, Sparkles tried remembering calm moments to try and soothe his hurting head. It wasn’t quite a feeling that brought nausea, more of just intense pain. It was similar to someone furiously drilling into his head with a jackhammer while hitting a gong inside as fast as they could. Sparkles wasn’t sure if this assembly was a good idea, more so now than ever before.

“Attention.” The Head was standing up, a microphone in hand. Her voice was high and strained, as if she had yelled a lot recently. “I’d like to ask for you all to start settling down, if you please.” She waited while the hush grew. “Thank you all for coming to celebrate the hard work of your students, they really, truly deserve it.”

The room was now completely silent.

“I know how awful it is outside and how much you all must want to be tucked up in bed, so we’ll be as quick as we can. Once again we have our esteemed Mayor to award these certificates to the students, but first he would like to say a few words.”

She sat down and passed the microphone to the Mayor, who stood up and looked appreciatively down at everyone else.

“Slimy bastard.” Muttered Leo.

A few of them snorted softly but all Sparkles could do was knead his forehead and breathe.

“Another year, another lot of exams, and another group of students.” With one hand wrapped around the microphone the other he waved around to emphasise his point. His voice was deep and had a nice rough edge, yet each word was pronounced softly and clearly and it was obvious he didn’t need the microphone to project his voice to the whole hall. He would always have that lawyer posture to him. “It’s delightful to see each new year succeeding and achieving their grades and the great things they go on to do, whether it be a job, off to college, or Sixth Form.”

“Fuck.” Sparkles said under his breath.

“Wherever you go, whatever you do, I’m sure you’ll do nothing but the highest quality of what you’re all capable off. The city would be nothing without the hard work of people like you.”

“Shit.” Sparkles muttered, more desperate. His head was hurting so hard he thought his skull might fracture. The Mayor’s rubbish about jobs were just what he’d expected and it made everything much worse.

The Mayor started reading ten names at a time off of the small certificates the Head handed to him, running in class and alphabetical order. Much to Sparkles’ despair his class was the penultimate one, and the room applauded after every ten were received.

He groaned. “Oh, fuck me.”

“You’re really not doing alright are you?” Parv said, serious for once.

“We’ll ask someone-”

Panic surged up inside him. “No. I can do this.”

“You sure?” Leo whispered, touching his arm. “I mean, really, you aren’t doing good.”

“I can’t leave in the middle of this.” He grunted. “Fucking embarrass myself for wimping out.”

“If you’re sure, mate.” Kogie whispered.

They all shut up with the next round of applause. Sparkles became increasingly stressed, blood rushing in his ears, the rain ricocheting of the windows, his head pounding, pounding. His vision blurred as he breathed deeply, in and out.

He lost all track of time until he was nudged by an elbow. He’d missed the calling out of his name by blocking out everything in an effort the keep himself under control. He followed his friends into the main aisle, staggering and almost tripping. His cheeks red, he ended up the last of the ten called to arrive, watching the Mayor smile and shake the hand of each person. He was taller up close, his eyes greener and more vivid. Before he knew it he was in front of the Mayor, face to face.

“Congratulations, Sparkles.” he said.

Sparkles had reached for his outstretched hand, sweat on his palms as they clasped. When suddenly.

_The only light was the two bright dots of the Mayor’s green eyes._

**_A ̛run͢do͠w̴n ͞bu͞il̢d́ing.̀ ̛R͏u͡st̴y̛ car̀s par̷ked ̡i̸n̕ the͜ ̨ơvergro̶wn ͟ca͘r̶ p͝a̕r̷k̡. ͢Th́e ́w̧in̢d͠o̶ws̶ dirty be̢yo͢n̷d beĺíe͞f.̛ ̴The͟ ci̴t̡y ͜w͠a͏ll̛s ͜w͠er̶e̷ ín͝ s͢igḩt̶. ͟The m͏o̵o͝n ͘ẁás ͏o͟ut in͞ ̀t̸h͡e̴ twi̕l̀i̧gh͝t̷. The light ͝bri̛g͏h̷te̷ne̶d aǹd̕ ̛a ͜louḑ ̢c̴rąc͟k a͝n͟d ́b̀o̵o͢m s̶pl͞it t͏he ͜a͏ir.͡ ͡Th̛e s͞įdè ̧o̶f th͢e ͠b̕uil̵d̢i͟ng͝ e̴x̴plod͝e͜d ou͟t͟w͢ard̵ ̧a̕n͜d̴ ͞u͜p̡wa͝r̛d, ̕c̸on͘cre̕te ̸dųst͝ ̧sw͜i͡r̢l̡i̢nǵ. ͟Fo̸r ͞a mo̸m̡en̶t ̶t͏h̢er̵e͠ wa̛s͞ d̵oub̵l̨e͟ ̴vi͜si̶on ̨w̕i̛t̡h ̡t̵he m͡o͡der̨n͜ da̷y wre͡ck ͏a̡n͞d͢ at̡ t̛h̡è ̕s͡amé ͢t͢im͜e͟ ͜t̸h́e bu̢iĺd͡in̡g w̨a̕s̛ ͏sma̴l͟l͟er̡ ̡and ̡made ͝o̵f ̡śto̕nę on͜ a͜ ͝r̕o̢a̷d͘ ̷ơf ̶d̢i̶r̶t.̸ ͝The ͝w̸alļ ̵i͜n t̡he͝ ̸ba̡c̨k̢g͠r̢o͠u̕nd̸ ̡w̶ąs͏ ͡s̀til͟l be̸i̢ng ̀b͢u͞ilt a͝n͢d ̴p̷e͘op͝le ̕we͘re scr̷eàḿing̷,̡ ͟ýe͘lling, ̢runn̵in͞g toward̶s t͏he ̸bu̵i͠ld̛in͘g in͜ a̵ p͜a̸ni͜c͜._ **

*

He woke slowly but painlessly. His breaths were loud in his head and his eyesight fuzzy. The memories of all that had occurred came flooding back and he groaned in mortification.

“Sparkles, dear, you’re awake. Oh thank god.”

His mother’s voice, sweet but worried. He opened his eyes and saw a room he didn’t recognise, as well as his mother and his six friends gathered on a few chairs and looking with relief at him. They each had their certificates in hand, he noticed, and finally saw that his mother was also holding one.

“Did that really happen?” He whined. “Did I really black out?”

“Yeah, you know I was only joking, man.” Leo forced a chuckle.

“You must have been dying there.” Panda said.

“Let’s just say I now know what a splitting headache means.” He said, the blandest kind of humour summoned.

“Don’t scare us like that.” Parv said. “We were so afraid you’d banged your head or something.”

“No.” Sparkles thought for a moment, sitting up on the bed to look around. “Where am I?”

“Infirmary.” The doctor said, walking in. “We’ve given you a lot of painkillers. I heard you had a bad migraine. How’re you feeling now?”

He took a moment to feel around. No intense pain threatening his consciousness, just a drowsy feeling still lingering. He would be fine, for a while at least.

“I’m better.”

“Best keep an eye on yourself. Too much stress and you can seriously mentally and even physically hurt yourself.”

Without warning the small room became even more crowded as the door opened. Everyone turned to see who had so casually stridden in and it took a moment for people to move out the way so he could see. Mayor Ridgedog, expression one of pure concern and sympathy, made his way to where he was sitting up. Sparkles felt nervous for a second, as if he was strangely vulnerable and exposed.

“Sparkles, right? I just came to see if you were alright. You gave everyone such a shock when you fainted.”

“Yeah, I’m fine now. Thank you.” He said cautiously.

The Mayor let himself smile, never taking his eyes off of Sparkles. “I’m glad to hear it. I seem to have a strange effect on people so I hope it was nothing to do with me, was it?” His forehead creased.

“Oh, no, I’d been headacheing all morning. I mean, I’ve had a headache. All morning.”

But he’d still had another hallucination. Sparkles was starting to see a link here, between the hallucinations and his brain hurting itself. He mouth suddenly felt a lot dryer.

“So long as you’re looking up I guess there’s nothing to worry about.”

“His mother will take good care of him.” Said the doctor, smushed up against the sink and cabinet of plasters and bandages and clearly not pleased about it.

“Of course. Wonderful.” The Mayor said, watching his mother nod vigorously. “Now, don’t let this ruin your day, all of you.” He smiled to all of them. “Get better and get out there. You’ve come so far, it doesn’t make sense to stop now. So, celebrate, and succeed.”

He started backing up out of the room taking in every one of his friends’ faces, leaving his last of all, practically radiating friendliness. “I hope to see you all doing well in higher education soon. Ta ta now.”

And he was gone in a swirl of his fancy coat. As the doctor began explaining good medication advice to his mother his friends began gathering around him again.

“That was weird.” Nilesy said, speaking for everyone.

“He’s certainly dedicated.” Parv said.

“Cheer up, Sparkles.” Leo was trying to smile, having noticed his neutral expression as he stared after the Mayor. “Lots of people have been ill because of the storm recently. Apparently Sips Underscore’s been under the weather too, pun not intended.”

Sparkles was silent, thoughtful. He looked at his hands and clenched them, feeling deep inside the desire to cry. What was happening to him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you once again for reading my story. It became very long for whatever reason.  
> As someone who's been watching this AU since before the asksuperyogs.tumblr days keeping a timetable in mind involved a lot of notes and backtracking, though maybe it's easier idk.  
> More characters are going to pop up all the time and I swear that all the tagged people will be given a changing place in the story. I was especially pleased to try my hand at describing the beautiful mayor without specifically calling him beautiful (because randomaffection does draw some pretty pretty people) while he still appears beautiful.  
> I guess the thing with fanfictions set in the past is you can't drop a bombshell like 'IT WAS THE MAYOR ALL ALONG!'. But it's chill I just wanted to write headcanon stuff with complete understanding that randomaffection has final say on what happens.  
> B)


	3. Lollipop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparkles dreams of the mysterious Cassandra and continues to be haunted by strange and violent dreams, some occurring while he is awake as well. While holding her in his thoughts Sparkles makes his way through his school day and although living in support housing and troubled by how dangerous the city is for his aging mother he spends the evening out with his friends, all somewhat aware that Sparkles has _some_ kind of psychic edge. The night ends with an acceptance that changes the way he thinks for the rest of his life.

**The sky was bright and the air sang. The edges were dark blue and deep like a heartbeat and in the centre it glowed a pinker hue. The light twirled like ribbons and gauze, as if a giant but gentle breeze blew them back and forth, pulsing along to a beat woven into the singing.**

**Except, the noise wasn't quite singing, for there was no real voice that he could define. It was a ringing or vibration, high, incomprehensible and in the back of what would've been his throat. But his heart soared with it and it evoked feeling that only music could within him. He soon came to describe it as humming, soft, not like bees or machines. Something neither natural nor human made.**

**The flow and ebb of it echoed across the hills, the ground dry and coloured in purples and reds from the light. It filled the empty chasm that was Sparkles’ mind, at the whims of this Universe.**

**As his consciousness rested at the top of one particularly large cliff face he stared upwards, entranced by the light. Stars gradually blinked into view as the humming grew slower and deeper, what would've been his stomach dropping with it. He felt rather than saw an intruding presence moving right to the edge, similarly gazing up at the light. Although they were in front of him, and he could somehow feel that they were a she, he couldn't quite make her out, edges and details blurred. It was hard to stay irritated for long in this place of light and feeling, and all too soon it trickled away as she stayed observing quietly and he accepted her being in his presence.**

**Without quite knowing what he was doing he moved closer to her. She didn’t react and before he could even think of some way to converse with her he heard something.**

**_This is the Echoplane._**

**Her back was to him, hair long and swept around by some invisible breeze that brushed tenderly over her skin. Her voice wasn't a voice, but still, however she spoke, it still felt like a defining feature of hers. It was close enough to a voice, anyway, he reckoned.**

**_That is the Echo._ **

**_The singing humming thing? And the light?_ He thought across to her, squinting at her form. _What is it, a portal in space?_**

**_It is all the lights in the sky._ The figure said.**

**Though he first wanted to be logical and point out how uninformative and confusing that answer was, the humming rang in what would have been his ears. The world trembled shook and burned as the light brightened and reddened. The ground cracked and the pieces shook apart, the humming vibrations deafening as the light tore through it all. Sparkles cried out as he felt his consciousness fall into the Void. The light was being consumed by darkness quicker than he could perceive. The tendrils of something old and cautious pulled him away, deeper and deeper into the abyss.**

**Just before everything went black, the figure, still just in sight within the light, finally turned. Sparkles saw green eyes, glowing brightly. Too bright. The Universe folding in on itself with a cacophonous explosion to scream. A scream from within him too.**

**_Cassandra!_ **

*

In his sleep Sparkles had rolled off his bed and knocked over his glass of water. The crash of glass smashing on the wooden floor, the gradual soaking of it into the duvet he was still wrapped tightly in, as well as the actual impact of the fall from his bed, had started him awake. His mind frantically propelled him to struggle in the fear of a trespasser standing nearby, judging him and the worth of his possessions with a sharp knife on hand. All this achieved, however, was a sharp pain from the heel of his right foot as he stood on a shard of glass.

After swearing profusely in the dark he fumbled for the lamps switch and finally located it, taking a moment to assess the situation. His greatest priority was to clean up the glass that now glinted everywhere around his feet, but even that had to wait a moment. Sparkles carefully sat down on his mattress to check the cut on his foot. While his imagination conjured pictures of a huge chunk of glass embedded deep in his foot and needing surgery to fix he instead found a chip the size of an stud earring poking out.

Overcome with disappointment he sat with it in the palm of his hand and stared at it incredulously. It was with this he tiredly thought back to the dream he'd had that'd caused all this trouble. Many details alluded him: the exact landscape, the means of communication, the means in which the light and humming had even appeared and worked. What didn't was the woman and her bright green eyes. The name returned to him unbidden at the thought of her. Cassandra.

She was there as he closed his eyes to think, standing over him as he fell. There had been something there, an automatic bond between them as they watched the strange landscape. Dream logic had suggested that, anyway.

Sparkles sat for another moment, breathing deeply and marking down as much of the dream as he could to memory. Then he set his entire tired mind to finding the glass beside his bed, the pieces all fortunately caught in the carpet and large enough he had no trouble picking them out as they glimmered in the lamplight. He collected them in the mostly recognisable remains of the glass and by the time he’d run his hands over the carpet ten times he thought he’d found everything.

The glass pieces clinked together as he stood up and hobbled out of his room, coming out into the dimly lit lounge and kitchen of his emergency student housing apartment. The floor was creaky floorboards and covered in rugs dug up in thrift shops, the furniture stained and small. Amber light shone through the thin curtains and the screen of the small TV set in the corner glimmered. It was bright enough outside that he could make his own way further, past the front door with three locks, and into the tiny kitchen. Two counters, cupboards, an oven, sink, microwave, toaster, kettle and bin were the extent of what fitted in the 5ft square room. A Sparkles could only just sidle in and tenderly leave his favourite glass on the side for placement in the recycling bin in the proper morning. There was nothing short of a close one’s peril that could convince him to leave the apartment at this hour. He could just reach into one of the cupboards and take out the last plaster - cheap as Strifecorp had bought the company out - but it took some manoeuvring of his head to avoid smacking himself in the face with the cupboard door.

Padding back to his room he unleashed a lengthy yawn, scratching his head and hearing a distant siren somewhere in the distance. It was a different chaotic world out there, all bathed in the amber of streetlamps that did nothing but make the concrete road and path look like an alien land. He relished the coolness and calm of his apartment, stumbling back to bed and wrapping the covers around him. He buried his head in the pillows and let out a deep exhale. What he missed though, was the warmth of his mother’s presence.

*

**_A ̀c͟i͟ty͠.͘ ̸Sky̛sc̨r͝aper͝s ańd li͏g̕h͘t an҉d͢ ̡nơi̕se. ̶Ir͝o̡n̸ a͠n͠d ̨st̢e̵e̵l.̶ U͡n̕de̶r ͡it ̕al̵l b̕elǫw c̨ęm̸e͡nt͏ ͡and͡ ̕b̧uried pip͘e͏s̡ ͘an͞d͞ the̸ s̀ton҉e͡s of͟ ҉the͞ f̶irst̷ s̷et͘t̴l͡e͏men͠t̷ ̡b̀ui̢lt̢. ̸A̸ c̸ham̧be͟r̀,̡ ͢d̸im̶ ͝a̧nd ar̸t̢if͏i̸cia͝l̀.͢ S̕o̢met͜hi̢nģ wa̢s̡ be͟e̡p̷ińg̴ ̷insįs̕t̛ingl͘y.̕ ͠A̵ ͘red l͜i͞ght flashing̸ ̢a͜nd͏ hįghlig͠hting̷ a t͜an̸gl̷e̵ ҉ơf t̷ùb̨es͠ t̡wisti͞ǹģ bet̕wee͜n an͝ ̨o҉mi͝n͞o͝u̸s̵ r̴ơun̶d s͝ha̵p̧e ́an҉d ҉o҉th͢e̡r machi̛ne͝s̨ ͠e͝v̛eryw҉her͢e̴. ̨A s҉kull̷ ͝wa͝s ͘p͡a͝int͠ed́ i̵n͟ ̸bl̴a͏c̢k͢ on͟ ͠i͘t͟s ͢surface. Ther͢é ̴wa̴s ́a ̵gưr͏g͏ļi̵n͜g̶ ͠a ̷w̶h̛i͠ne͜ o͢f̷ ̨a mo̕tor̕ a ̷hi͡s̵s ͢o̡f͜ ͘pre͝s̷su̵re.̡ Th͏e̢ ̀b͜eèpi͠ņg wa̶s̸ ̡l̡o͞u͠d͟e̴r͠ the ̧f͢lás̀hi̸ng l͘i͞g̶ht̵ m̕ore ͝fr̀e͝n̕zie͘d̸.̀ ̨A͞ ̴t́e͡n̷s͘ío͡n ̕w̴a͠s ̷f̵i͟l͝lin͠g ͡t̴h͜e ̀ro͡om as͡ ̀i̷t b̴e̕g͝àn ̵sh͟aki̕n̴g.͜ ̨Th͢e͢ ͡li͘g͡ht҉ w̵i͟n̵k̡ed͢ ҉o͟ut̵ ́fo͢r ̶a͝ sećond͞ and t̴he̕ b̴e͘e̵p h͘it̷ a͜ ̸hìg͜h͞e̶r͟ n͡o̸t͞e.̛ ͝A̧nd t͏hen ̧t͜h͏ére͜ wa̡s no͟thing b͟ut͠ ͘bri̧gh̨t ̀l͏ight ̡and̨ b҉l͏a̴s͞te͘d deb͡r͜i̧ś._ **

The second time Sparkles woke, it was despair that made his terrified gasps catch at his throat. It felt so dry he ended up triggering a coughing fit that he stifled in his bed covers. When the hoarseness was not as bad and he was able to swallow, he lay back. He covered his eyes with a hand and wiped his watery eyes, picking up sleep from the edges. He calmed his breathing, floofed his hair.

He was fine and in his bed, a massive improvement from earlier, the memory of the floor sore on his hip. He carefully felt around it and picked up what felt like a bruise he must have missed earlier just after the fall. Staring up at the ceiling and the lone glow in the dark star against the white paint, Sparkles found a calm in the bleakness of it. Dreams don’t often linger, but the explosion, and it had been a fucking huge one at that, had chilled him to the core. It hadn’t been Minecraftia as far as he could tell, which was reassuring.

He let out a long exhale and closed his eyes again. He remembered the other nightmare, though it seemed a million years ago after the explosion one. Cassandra was cemented in his mind as he sat up to look at his alarm clock. 6:56AM was close enough a time to get up for, and he didn’t want to be in the room when the beep of his alarm went off.

*

The morning was cold as Sparkles left the flat, his breath rising like a cloud tinted by the street lamps. His boots crunched on disproportionately scattered salt on the pavement and his satchel strap jingled with each step. He was doing his best to stuff his reddening hands in his coat pockets without dropping the case containing his precious acoustic guitar and so far was just about managing. He’d spent just as much time sitting and waiting for his coffee to cool as he did getting ready and the taste was already souring in his mouth. He decided to use his peppermint mouth spray as soon as he got to school to avoid being followed around by a cloud of coffee breath all day.

He was in an estate of student housing, all small dorms and benches by mossy walls that separated the pavements from the buildings. The other occupants, the University students who were the main users of the areas shops and entertainment, were probably just waking up, curtains twitching and lights glowing.

Sparkles wasn’t friends with any of the other seven people who were Sixth Formers living here, and he wanted to remain polite acquaintances with them at most. He felt an embarrassing difference between their lives and his, as they had been poor their entire lives and finally qualified to have a home of their own. He had only recently had to move in here after his childhood home was finally sold and his mother and he had purchased a smaller home. She hadn’t been able to afford to care for both of them by then, but they knew old friends of his father that had helped them find support. Part of it was Sparkles starting student living early, and he could appreciate the independence he had with it all. But there was still that uncomfortableness in that he had once had a lot better than this, and they never had.

He wove his way through alleys with layers of tracked mud and the skeletons of leaves. The lining of puddles was silver with frost and the insides were murky. He had learnt not to trust the deceptively thin covering that led to nothing but gross brown sludge. At each end street lamps lit the way, but in the middle there could be anything lurking in the darkness. Sparkles was too cold to care, and he wasn’t idiotic enough not to look up from the ground every so often to check he was alone.

Above it all he could make out the rumble of a distant train, heading every morning into Minecraftia’s centre with workers and import from Minstral City. Quiet horns and the grumbles of car engines were growing in volume the closer he got to the main active part. Looking upwards at the reddening clouds visible between the roofs he reckoned, as he always did, that you’d be able to jump between them. But definitely not in this weather.

By the time he couldn’t feel his feet, and the jingle and skrit of his footsteps had turned into a rhythm he filled in with humming, the chatter of students could also be made out, like the background hum of an engine. The salt on the path had greatly increased in quantity, to escape the lawsuits of parents concerned over the jarred backs of their idiotic children. He knew there was a large bin like barrel for it all somewhere. It’d been hidden because the previous one out in the open had turned into a pasta dumping zone.

As he joined the steady stream of students, some wrapped up like Arctic explorers and others managing in a thin jacket, all with rustling backpacks and shoulder bags, he felt a wave of irritation rise up inside him. The younger children would run and scream, taking up the whole path and generally being a nuisance. The older the student the dourer they looked and the less likely they were to get in your way. Sparkles had wondered when younger why he’d been hated and glared at, but with the context of being one of the eldest students around, as he walked in he didn’t have a problem with using his arm to push a pack of first years heading past him and taking up the whole path out of his way.

The buildings and their aged brick and concrete was familiar and he knew each route around well. He passed in through the sports field end, avoiding the mud patch that others were skidding through one by one. Rugby was the popular PE game at this month, although those who wanted to be warm played dodgeball. Sparkles hadn’t exercised on the school curriculum for six months, and he was loving it.

He passed laughing kids, crying kids, shivering kids, and even a few standing on each other’s feet as hard as they could. The ground was strewn with chewing gum that had likely solidified long before Sparkles was born, the shrubbery and grass worn and brown after facing both winter and humans the past month. Plastic bottles and chocolate wrappers were tucked into wall corners, making his brow crease, as there were bins were blatantly nearby. The few students who were allowed to go in before school’s official start were already taking refuge from the chill wind. Others got by by huddling together in corners. Or screeching as loud as they could, as some girls did when Sparkles passed them.

“Fucking stop.” He mumbled to them.

Screaming had never worked for him in any issues he came across, so he didn’t see how it would help their pathetic lives either. They didn’t react fast enough for him to see as he continued towards the Sixth Form block. The place where subjects specifically for those years and special computer rooms and a common room were. It was always very noisy there, but he could stand people his own age better than those younger than him.

_His mother had laughed. “That’s all people seem to do to you, dear. Noisily get in your way. Remember, you used to complain about similar things while you were still in single digits.”_

_“I guess this is going to be one of those things that plague me my entire life then.” He’d sighed._

_“Be more accepting. They have places to be too.”_

Of course they all had places to be. They could just be a little more mature and civil about it though. As he entered the building and passed a few classrooms before heading up a pair of steps Sparkles could think wholeheartedly he had never been that bad. In a corner, past a few buff looking boys and the school council table, was were his friendship group were all perched.

Leo was looking laid back and with his phone an inch away from his face, due to Kogie sitting on his lap rather than bad eyesight. Panda was sitting up with his legs on Nilesy’s lap as they all sat and laughed at Parv crouched on a chair and doing a Gollum impression. Sparkles already felt a smile on his face as he started leaning his rucksack against their pile of bags.

“Ah, the tricksy hobbitses.”

“Hey fellowship.” Sparkles said, raising his voice over the other people. “Seen anyone slip over yet?”

“Nope. Not in school anyway.” Said Leo.

“I did while walking through the park this morning actually.” Panda said. He shifted his legs off Nilesy’s lap. “But it was dog rather than a person.”

“What happened?” Parv said normally. He was eyeing behind Sparkles and the group of laughing jock boys.

“It was so excited to run it did a front flip.”

“I can do that too.” Said Nilesy.

Panda laughed. “Sure you can.”

“You can show us when we go out later.” Kogie said. “That and all your other cool tricks.”

“I can cartwheel but not when its dark. Which it will be before school’s even ended.” He replied.

“You’re still up for that, right, Sparkles?” Leo asked, looking up from his phone.

He met his eyes and smiled.

“Sure I can. We’ve been meaning to go out together for ages. I can’t miss the one time everyone else isn’t busy.”

“You forgot your gloves again.” Said Nilesy.

“Shit.” He patted down his coat and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He excitedly withdrew an item with the feel of cloth and found a single glove.

“Well at least one of your hands are gonna be warm.” Kogie said.

Panda snorted.

“Oh, never mind.”

He frowned and shoved the glove away.

“I’ll get you a nice new pair for Winter Solstice.” Parv said kindly.

“Don’t spoil the surprise then.” He retorted, still a little grumpy. He sighed. “Sorry.”

Parv waved a dismissive hand.

Sparkles sighed and turned to Leo, aware of the oncoming bell and the heavy guitar case leaning against his leg.

“Leo I know you’re busy being a seat but are you able to drop of the instruments with me anytime soon?” Sparkles indicated his guitar.

“Yeah, give me a mo.”

He tapped Kogie’s thighs and rested his head by his ear.

“C’mon, buddy. Make it easy.”

Kogie groaned sadly and made a huge show of slowly getting up, pouting heavily.

Sparkles eyed each member of the group as Leo stood up and stretched his legs. They all watched him suspiciously, and in the case of Parv, also grinning.

“I think you drove all the blood from my legs, Kogie.” Leo was saying.

“Where did it all go I wonder?” Kogie said, waggling an eyebrow.

“I swear to god it’s my drumsticks in my pocket.”

“Sure.”

Leo hit him with said drumsticks and moved to collect his bag from the pile. It was then Parv made his move.

“You look awfully awake this morning, Sparkles.”

He hesitated. “Awfully?”

“Dreadfully.” Kogie drawled before sitting down again.

“Still not getting it.” He said.

“Normally in the morning you say ‘Oh, I’m so tired. The walk in was terrible and cold. A homeless guy winked at me and it was so embarrassing.’”

“He was like fifty years old, Nilesy.” Sparkles protested.

“Point is.” He took off his glasses and with shirt material between finger and thumb cleaned the lenses. “Something’s different this morning.”

Sparkles mumbled something and then settled on a shrug.

“Nothing new in the neighbourhood?” Panda asked.

“No new, pretty people.” Kogie added.

“No.”

“Then what could possibly make you less grouchy today.” Panda mused.

“God you make me sound like an asshole.”

“Well?” Nilesy said, twirling his hand as if to encourage him to speak.

“I-” He started, then hurriedly stopped himself.

He’d thought of the dream about Cassandra. Of the humming music and the way he felt particularly motivated to write something from it. He knew that despite being friends they were all teenage boys, and in the end there would be relentless teasing.

“Whatty?” Parv said. “What’s on your mind?”

Fuck it, he thought. He could leave out the most tease worthy parts.

“I had a dream last night. That I woke up from straight after.”

“Ooh.” Parv sang.

“Not that kind of dream, you absolute tool.” He sighed.

“Was it a nice dream, then?” Asked Leo from aside.

“I don’t remember most of it but it did leave a mix of good and bad feelings.”

“What stood out?” Kogie asked.

“There was music.”

“Like the smooth jazz kind?”

“I don’t remember much apart from some of the tune. I was humming it on my way here.”

“It’s always about music with you, isn’t it?” Nilesy smiled.

“Almost always.” He said. “And on that note I have to leave my guitar in the practice room with Leo’s stuff.”

“See you in tutor.” Kogie said.

“Or class.” Panda added.

He waved goodbye and followed Leo as he wove his way out of the common room. He could barely keep in the sigh of relief as he’d dodged talking about Cassandra. The music had enamoured him, yes, but something about it was preying on his mind. The dream had seemed so final and terrible. And why had her eyes been so green?

*

As it happened Sparkles couldn’t shake that last thought from his mind even when lessons started. In a quiet moment when the English Literature teacher was letting them all independently work on the questions on Macbeth, he opened his notebook and started doodling. After answering three questions in the space of the hour he felt he had sufficiently covered up for his absent attention. He hasn’t really thought too hard on the answers but the teacher had nodded vigorously to everything he’d said.

Parv went up to him as they were leaving to the next lesson and prodded his arm.

“You’re awfully attentive today.”

He rolled his eyes and shifted his bag. “Again with the awfuls.”

“Something’s got you thinking.”

“Something other than being prompted by your presence?”

Parv snorted and the crush of students with places to be arose before them. There was no way to continue the conversation like this until later.

“You had your music notebook out. But you weren’t moving your pen as if you were writing.”

Sparkles saw the curious smile growing on his friend’s face and looked for the first corridor turn off he could come across. His clenched fist had biro ink smeared on the fingertips.

“Bye, Parv.”

“Later, man. I’m not done with you!” He called as Sparkles strode away.

In IT he found himself too busy coding to go back to his doodle page, although his thoughts were still on Cassandra. After answering the teacher’s request he unfolded the paper from his pocket and looked it over.

What had seemed to be thoughtful shapes from the dream at the time had turned to an abstract landscape of unsteady lines and splotching ink. So, the location of dream hadn’t turned out well, but then again he wasn’t an artist. Another attempt at Cassandra herself had been made, but the only detail he had really caught was the way her hair moved. The last doodle, located in a small corner that had folded over itself a little, was of her eye. It was recognisable, although akin to cheap manga style by Deviantart members, but it wasn’t quite finished.

When he was sure no-one else was looking, including Panda, who had only managed to get a seat where his blind eye was the one closest to Sparkles, he took out his pencil case. He grabbed his two shades of green fine liners and a highlighter and returned to the eye. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had seen eyes as green as hers before.

*

With a stomach full after break Sparkles was more content to bare his friends being his friends.

“What dream could possibly have got you so alert?” Kogie mused as they walked towards their shared next lesson.

“Surely there wasn’t just music.” Parv continued.

“He’s pretty big on the whole music thing remember.” Said Leo. “We all are, really.”

“I had a dream once we were in a band, together.” Sparkles said, smiling at them all. “Would that ever be likely?”

“You already jam with Leo during frees don’t you?” Kogie asked.

“Yep. That’ll be next period too.”

“Every other teenager seems to think about it at least once.” Parv said, looking off into the distance.

“Not right now.” Sparkles said. “Maybe it’ll be a College thing we do.”

“I actually did some research.” Leo said. “If you can play an instrument above a certain level you get a bursary.”

“Nice.” Kogie hissed.

“Not the best bit. If you’re in a proper band you can be asked to perform on club nights. For actual money.”

“As opposed to fake money found in Monopoly.” Sparkles grinned.

“It’s early days, guys.” Leo shrugged. “But that’s out there.”

“I do like money, not going to lie.” Parv sighed.

“Of course you do.” Kogie elbowed him in the ribs and almost sent him tumbling into some younger students. “Still, sounds cool.”

In class their time and attention was pretty much preoccupied by the task of recording music for their project. The majority of work was music software editing, as most of the ten members had wanted a digital bass to their songs. Leo was recording people’s drum lines in the practice room, the distant boom of his drum echoing down the corridors. Parv and Kogie were strumming in a corner and had teamed up to help with each other’s original production.

Sparkles was in front of a keyboard with the setting on choir and listening to ghostlike voices play the notes of Bad Romance. He had his own sheet music in front of him, but he could play by ear with enough skill it just seemed like he was working normally. He paused from playing when he got to the end of the chorus and reached out for his sheet music notebook.

The beginnings of songs that had come out of nowhere, tunes and notes for keyboards, guitars, drum patterns. They had all been meticulously written and kept within the book, like everything else he did. Dreams and daydreams and headaches had often distracted his mind, so he would often write down anything that was important the moment it came to him.

He ripped out a new page and began shaping her face. A circle, with unsmiling features. In his mind’s eye he saw her. Cassandra’s figure was drawn in shadow, clothes there but indistinguishable. Her hair blew in an invisible breeze and her eyes were heavily outlined. They were the only part of her he didn’t shade. He put down his pencil and observed his work. Imagining her had brought a better result and he felt as small sliver of pride in his heart for making her real.

“What _have_ we got here?”

A hand snatched away the page before he could even recover from the scare. He turned to look up at the shadow looming over him to see Parv grinning and looking with great interest at the doodle of Cassandra. He gasped.

“Is this a girl?”

“No it’s a fucking dragon. Parv please think before you speak.” He tousled his hair and took off his headphones. “And give that back, now.”

Parv waggled his eyebrows and his grin grew wider.

“Is this a new love interest?”

“No.” He tried to snatch it back but Parv withdrew his hand and started moving backwards.

“Or better, is it to do with that dream?”

“Parv, stop being a dick.”

“You must have such interesting nights my friend.” Parv was almost back to Kogie, who had looked up from being engrossed in his tuning. “Does she wear you out every night?”

“Parv, I mean it.” He tried grabbing it from him but Parv shoved it down his shirt and folded his arms.

“Go get it.” He whispered and winked.

“You wish.”

“Really?” Kogie sighed.

“I’m not going to feel you up.” Sparkles said firmly. “As much as you know I’d love to.”

“What is it?”

“A doodle.”

“Of a woman with pretty eyes, Kogie.”

“So he’s taken up Manga, haven’t we all dabbled?”

Parv sighed and looked upwards as if some greater entity would grant him insight or patience.

“You’re not excited at his little crush?”

“If she was real, maybe?”

Sparkles paused a moment, sensing some kind of pragmatics to their words.

“Wait, have you guys…?”

They both looked at him, then at each other. Then at him again.

“Seriously? We’ve had discussions about hot people and everything before. You know I am in fact aesthetically attracted to people.”

“You’ve never dated anyone though.” Kogie said quietly.

“People are pretty, doesn’t mean I gotta date them.” He growled and clenched his fists at his sides. “Anyway we’re going off track.”

Kogie coughed expectantly and crossed his arms. Parv threw his hands in the air and sighed. He reached down his shirt and held aloft the paper. Sparkles was a little pissed to see it had more creases in it. He carefully took it from Parv’s outstretched hand and made a surprised noise that made Parv giggle uncomfortably.

“What was that?” Kogie asked shrilly.

“It’s warm.” Sparkles said, mouth turned down.

“That’s not the only warm thing of mine.” He smiled and waggled his eyebrows again.

“Well your jokes and flirting are lukewarm at best.” Sparkles said.

“Ouch.” Hissed Kogie, sitting down again and picking up his guitar.

“Love you, Sparks.” Parv said in a singsong voice, head tilted and a slight pout on his face.

“Love you too, ya idiot.”

*

The room had cleared after the bell and only he and Leo setting up the practice room with the teacher were left. Sparkles tiredly sat in the music room, hands on his legs as they jigged. His eyes lazily moved over familiar posters detailing the strings instrument family and vocab like ‘pitch’ and ‘tone’ to use in describing music. He closed his eyes tightly, colours blinking to life as his sight fought to provide information.

**_A̸ swir͝l of͟ pi̛nk ̵a͏nḑ s̢ţar̵s fa̶r͝, ͠f̛ar ̢aw̷ąy̢_ **

He started humming again, following a curl of colour, like a road, leaning his head with the movement. For a moment his mind was empty and vast and he had the lightheaded sensation he could touch everything.

“Sparkles, there you are.”

His eyes snapped open, neck strained. He looked up at Leo, drumsticks sticking out of his jeans pocket. He’d shifted so suddenly his leg had almost knocked over his guitar case. It leaned almost 90° before Leo reached down and caught it.

“Woah. You alright, man?”

He stood the guitar case up and slithered a hand into his trouser pocket. Sparkles felt the lightheaded swirl leave his head as he rubbed his eyes, a displaced sensation in him as it drifted back to him where he physically was.

“I’m tired as shit man. So, so tired. The day’s really worn me down. And Parv as well.”

“I feel you.” Leo replied, relief slowly apparent in the upward twitch of his mouth. “I stayed up late to finish an essay.”

“Yeah.” Sparkles sighed. “But it’s also a permanent kind of exhaustion. My motivation is based purely on the promise of a moments peace and quiet when I’m, done.”

“Slowly wearing you down, huh.” Leo nodded.

“I woke up this morning in a little bit of a better mood than I am now, that’s for sure.” Sparkles laughed slightly.

Parv’s stunt had be irritating him for the rest of the lesson and he was sure that he wouldn’t really be able to have a heartfelt conversation with him. He also wasn’t looking forward to the teasing about the doodles later on.

“C’mon let’s get to work.” Leo indicated the practice room with his thumb and moved towards it.

He picked up his guitar case and followed Leo towards the practice cupboard. Mr Pro or “Percival Reeves-Oswald” as he explained to the hysterical class when he’d introduced himself, smiled to them as they passed his desk.

“Make sure the door’s closed, boys. I’m marking some of your homework here.”

“Yes, sir.” Leo said. “You know us. Considerate and hard workers.”

Mr Pro snorted and even Sparkles managed to make a distracted smile.

“Hey you remember what we called our group in this class?” Leo said, stepping out of the way as Sparkles made his way to the piano chair and set the case down. “Me, you, Parv, and Kogie. What are we?”

“Don’t make me say it.” Sparkles mockingly begged.

“C’mon.” Leo grinned. No-one will hear you but me.”

Sparkles whined but turned to look at him.

“We’re brocrastinators. Ugh, I need to cleanse my mouth.”

“I love you man.” Leo laughed.

“Love you too.” Sparkles said, smile sinking into the insidious tar of his mind. “And I always will.”

Leo moved to the stool behind the drum kit and sat down heavily, the cymbals clacking together ever so slightly. Sparkles got out his acoustic guitar and dug into a pocket for a plectrum. He could feel the thrum under his skin from just placing his fingers on the strings, a taut excitement that made him instantly feel better. He momentarily put it down to put earphones in his ears, so as not to go deaf from the drums and to keep the sound of the guitar audible.

Leo cracked his knuckles and gave each drum a test hit, earphones in. Sparkles winced, even with his own in and in the far end of the room. He thought he saw the decorative guitars attached to the walls shudder, but he knew they were too securely attached for that.

“Alright.” He said. “Let’s get started.”

He waited expectantly for Sparkles to finish tuning the guitar and he was painfully aware not to let his mind drift and alarm his friend more.

“You know the drums for Love Story?” Sparkles asked teasingly, still testing the strings.

“You make me do Taylor Swift and I will drop dead.” Leo warned, pointing a drumstick at him like a weapon. “Then you’d have done fucked up and be in prison.”

“Jeez, man, sounds like overkill.” He grinned.

“There’s a special place in hell for you, brother.”

Sparkles thought back to Parv and his cheeky wink that came with a remark.

“Yes, the throne.” He winked.

Leo rolled his eyes and drowned out any other chances of conversation by drumming a beat, Sparkles tapping his foot and following the intro with electric excitement. As the song wound around his mind and body, a road to follow not to bind, he felt his mind clear and strummed along to the opening.

They made it through almost a whole album length of songs before hunger started gnawing at his attention. Sparkles had only turned away for a few seconds to slip the acoustic back into its case when a crunch caught his attention.

“Leo!” He said indignantly “Could you not wait? Oh my god.”

Sparkles raised a hand, palm facing the ceiling to show how questioned he was.

“Mmph.” Leo mumbled around the apple piece in his mouth, a beautiful looking red and green one in his hand.

“Where did you even get that? You Twilight recreating ass.”

“Outta my ass.” He replied, smile appearing after he swallowed.

“Oh…that’s.” He swallowed, thrown off. “Bruh!” He stumbled through a reaction, zipping up the case and shaking his head as Leo laughed.

“We all have our secrets, Sparks. Mine just happens to be a storage system up my ass.”

“Dude.”

“I’m serious.”

“And I’m feeling less hungry by the second, Leo.”

They both stared into one another’s eyes for a moment before descending into laughter. It took Mr Pro knocking on the door to see if they were alright to make them move along.

*

The walk home was a little different with the sun up in the sky. The early morning tiredness was now an awake and thriving living emotion. The crowds were larger and noisier, the students moving off on various side streets to avoid getting crushed by much taller people. The salt sometimes had a reddish tinge to it, though he laughed at the thought of it being blood while on a heavily used pathway. It would be a mix of dirt discolouring the grains not someone’s extreme nosebleed or a dragged corpse. He knew from an ex-students photography that the blood would turn black in that case.

The college students were either in the College itself or quietly working in their rooms, though open windows still let out little streams of conversation and radio music. For a moment he thought back to the doodle, securely in his pocket so no-one else would try to steal it. He paused to sit down on a bench not far from the entrance to his dorm, resting his bag and case next to him. He didn’t want to give the impression he wanted company.

He looked upwards at the sky, the grey of overhanging clouds bringing the threat of icy hail. Or snow, because you never know with the weather these days. The sun was fading fast in the winter, but there again was more reddish pink in the western hemisphere. The sky had been similar in his dream, he was almost sure of it.

He tried to sink into it, to see the land as he had before, to see Cassandra as he had before. He let his mind wander but all that came was the thought of how stupid he looked.

**_A̧n̴d gree̷n,͞ ̵g̷ŕe̴en͠ ̧eye̕s͟. S̢pitt͝ing͡ ̴an͠d ̀glow͡in͠g͢ ͘t͜oo͡ br͟íght._ **

His eyes opened again and he felt himself shiver. A cold feeling was settling in his body and he quickly gathered his things. It was warmer indoors but he dropped his key twice before finally getting in. He wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that hadn’t been Cassandra.

As he lay his bags down by the door and unraveled himself he had to keep reminding himself he had to be able to go out with his friends later today. They were depending on him and he had to make sure they were all happy during their night out, since they saw each other outside of school so rarely.

He clutched his mobile phone to his side as he gathered the blanket on his sofa and took it into his bedroom, curling under multiple covers and waiting for his warmth to soak in. He checked his texts for his mother’s number and read her last message from earlier that day.

_Don’t forget to drop in early and I’ll give you some money and a treat. One for everyone. Stay safe my sweet. XXXXXXXXXX_

Stay safe. He held his phone and the phrase close to his chest and let his eyes close. They could keep one another safe when they were all out together. Alone, a weird dream and a fallen glass could beat any one of them. Or just him.

In the darkness of his tired mind he knew he couldn’t fall asleep and he wouldn’t let himself. And for the briefest moment there was

**_A ̀d̵ark̷ ͞a͝lley,͟ à ͜f҉lickéri̶n͜g̢ ͠s͏t͠re̸étlam̢p ̡f͜ar̢ ̡aw͠a̴y. ̕B͢l̛o͢o̕d w͝as p̀oo͞lin̕g a̴round́ a ̀m͡ut̨il͘a͡ted͡ ͜b́o̸d̛y, ̕eyȩs ̵w͠i̛de ̢anḑ ͡mou̢t̸h ̀op̛e͏n ͝i̡n ̷a͜ ́sc͞r̀ea̴m͜.͘ B̢ey̨on̕d t̷h́e͢ ͢man̢, w̕h̴o ̛lo̧ơk̵e̕d̵ ̴hi̢s ag̕e͜,̵ ̨w̨as̀ ͡a shine a̷nd ̀e̴dg̵e.̵ A fig̸ur̶e s͟ta̛ríng҉ ̧d̡ow̸n,̷ ̛arm̢our ̵sp͟a̧tte͠r̢éd̴ with͞ ̨dro͞ps͟ of̵ ̴bloód._ **

Sparkles could do nothing more but breathe.

*

Sparkles stood at his mother’s doorway, both gloves firmly on his hands as they rested by his sides. She lived a little further into the suburbs than they used to initially, a smaller one-bedroom house worth less money. Semi-detached and with one parking spot on the road side, hot water wasn’t always available, and the water all had to be boiled but it was drunk. She also lived in emergency housing that Council could provide for her, although unlike him, she didn’t have the possibility of a future. He could blearily consider that he may one day after her death have to clear out everything in there, bagging trinkets for charity shops and keeping little other than her wedding ring and anything somewhat valuable.

**_Not yet. Not soon._ **

He reached up to the doorbell and pressed it, pausing to listen. He exhaled dragon breath twice before he eventually went to the doorknocker. A hall light switched on and footsteps approached. With a creak and a squeal his mother appeared around the door frame and smiled.

“Hey.” He said.

“Hello, my darling.” She enclosed him in a hug and he inhaled her familiar smell for a moment. She felt so small compared to him now. “Come in, come in. It’s freezing.”

He forlornly unwrapped himself from the embrace and followed her into the hallway, shuffling in far enough that she could reach past him and shut it.

Her face seemed to have new lines on it, even in the half year since his graduation. Her hair had grown whiter at the roots as she brushed a few strands behind her ears. She might dress in more and more cardigans and rarely change out of slippers, but her smile was still the same as always, warm and welcoming.

Unlike the radiator he had stupidly leaned and then scorched himself on. He hissed and took the glove off and rubbed his reddening skin. His mother tutted at his stupidity and headed back into the lounge and kitchen room with scarcely a glance back.

“What are you doing?”

“Suffering.” He deadpanned, stuffing his gloves away and shrugging off his coat.

“So negative.” She said. “How do you survive without me?”

She was too far away for him to distinguish her exact tone but he still hesitated while untying his shoelaces. He saw her every Tuesday and Saturday for tea, resorting to texts and video calls on other days. Sometimes he would drop in every day. Sometimes his workload would be too great for him to see her and her internet had crashed.

Somehow, being in an adult situation hadn’t ended up to be quite what he had expected it to be. For one, he had thought there would be less work and murder threats involved. He wasn’t very worried with where she lived, knowing it was still safer than skyscrapers. So long as you stayed out of dark alleys on your own you would make it out relatively unscathed by the small gangs and criminals that also lived close by. She had been amused when a man wielding a knife had blocked her way and then been kicked in the face by a man she could only presume had been an _actual_ dwarf with incredible athletic skills. She had been fine and the dwarf had helped her on her way, but Sparkles had still fallen asleep to her screams.

He held his trainers by their backs and placed them on the shoe rack next to her pair of shoes. There was still a grain of salt stuck in one of the rivets on one of the bottoms. He’d poke it out with a twig later.

While both lived in similarly sized homes his felt somewhat better. His apartment gave the feeling of temporary living, of being lived and worked in but softer in that sense. His mother’s house was thin and claustrophobic and the furniture that may have been happily placed in their old home was squeezed into corners. The lighting was dim with the lampshades and there was an unshakable feeling off rot in the place. The house had been built before his mother had even been born, but it was quickly deteriorating after each year. It was a home and suited her needs to the bare minimum, though, and when Sparkles asked her if she was alright with all of it she would say she was satisfied enough.

“I have everything I need apart from you.” Said Sparkles, as he entered and headed towards the sofa. “So, barely.”

She looked up from the tea kettle and smiled at him. She was placing an old teabag from the pile into one of the two mugs in front of her, what looked like his. He always liked his stronger than she did.

“Then help yourself to biscuits from the table, dear.”

He set himself down on the sofa that creaked alarmingly as his weight settled. He half expected that one day he’d get impaled on a spring one day. It stank of leather and he wrinkled his nose as the kettle began noisily boiling the water.

He waited patiently as she made them tea by pulling out his phone and checking for messages from his friends. So far all that had happened was people gathering at each other's houses. They’d be having food before they went out to avoid awful costs.

“So, how was your day?” His mother said as she handed him his mug.

He thought about the absence of headaches today and decided to focus on that. It was easier than talking about Cassandra. She needed good news when he came to visit.

They absently chatted until the beeper went off for the oven and paused their conversation to serve the food. With lap trays in front of the TV they dug into chicken pie and mashed potato with melted butter.

_“Our beloved Mayor Ridgedog has new tastes in fashion after displaying a new suit when he addressed the press this morning. The coat familiar to us all from his days in the courthouse has been replaced by a personalised two piece suit he wears in coordination with the official sash. According to experts his popularity rose by 5% since this first appearance. So Mayor, if you're watching this, the new look should be here to stay._

_“And in other news, Strifecorp have recently purchased another…”_

His mother took the remote from beside her and changed the channel to something with a laughter track. He coughed and placed his cutlery on the plate and stood up to put it in the sink. When he returned from the cube that was only a slightly bigger kitchen than his own, his mother was checking her wristwatch.

“If your headaches aren’t bothering you as much is it alright we skip the pharmacy?”

“Of course.” He said. “I have two paracetamol left over in my wallet anyway if the need arises.”

She also stood up to get rid of her plate and left her lap tray with Sparkles, who stacked it on his and put them back between the wall and the side of the sofa. When she returned she was rifling through her own purse. She sat down with a squeal of springs and took out a small purple notebook. It was worn and the brown of cardboard was at its edges, but his mother hadn’t filled up all the pages with shopping lists yet.

“Are you ready to go out soon?”

“How soon is soon?”

“Within the next five minutes?”

“Yeah. That’s good.” He thought for a moment. “What will we be looking for exactly?” He wondered out loud. “Surely there’s no surprise if you’re standing right next to me when I’m picking out your gift.”

“You want to get it right though, don’t you?”

He sighed without real frustration and with a smile. “I guess.”

Sparkles shifted on the sofa and got to his feet while accompanied by the protesting of the springs.

“If you’re grabbing your shoes would you get mine?”

“Of course.” He said. “Dress warmly.”

*

“I like this one.”

His mother looked over his shoulder at the clothes rack and grimaced.

“I thought I raised you better than this, Sparkles.”

He laughed softly and replaced the creeper beanie and moved onward down the aisle.

The shop was lit by sterile white lighting, reflecting off the sheer grey flooring so that no products were hidden by shadows. Sparkles wondered if the convenient sunglasses shelf they’d passed was an intentional marketing ploy and determinedly carried on. There weren’t other people in the winter clothing corner, but he could hear the murmurs of conversation elsewhere in the shop, half-heard discussions on ‘how big a carton of milk?’ or ‘which cookie brand is cheaper?’. They were somewhere at the forgotten back end of the store but if he moved several steps to the left he could peer around a corner and get a glimpse of the glass entrance and the shadowy figures moving in endless waves beyond the air conditioners and calmness of the tills.

They had gone searching for something for his mother, as she hadn’t been able to find a good pair of gloves, hat and scarf after he’s told her to dress warmly earlier. She had been remarking for weeks that her only pair of good gloves were wearing thin at the fingertips and he could tell from a single look at her red face and watery eyes that they were what she needed more than anything in these cold months.

Something he’d read somewhere had come into his mind as he perused the wares in front of him, fingers hovering over price tags. Poor people could only afford bad objects and thus they would need replacing much more than a rich person’s more expensive and better enduring version of the object. He knew from living in student housing how true that actually was now, he and others his age trying to stock up on items and funds for University next year. It was amusing to see the connection between the mainstream expensive items and what companies had been bought out by Strifecorp. His mother was understandably avoiding Strife's section.

Sparkles eventually found a matching bobble hat and gloves pair, as well as a soft scarf of a similar navy colour. The price was £15 with winter solstice deals on, which left another ten odd pounds to spend later when out with his friends. He had a voucher tucked in his pocket from tons of magazine searching that also granted him a free book if his purchase was over £10, which meant he could wrap more than one present for his mother this year and surprise her with a gift she wasn’t already aware of.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw her looking at another section of clothes and carefully slipped away to the entertainment aisle to pick something out for her. She was a sucker for crime dramas, which was ironic because of how much of that was happening within Minecraftia itself. He’d sat and watched numerous TV shows with her and felt the same morbid joy in seeing murder committed and solved. There was an ease in which the audience could distance themselves from real deaths in the world. He was haunted by horror stories of single mothers becoming detached from reality, glued to their TVs, and he was sometimes worried about if his own would suffer something similar. It was one of the reasons he kept a close eye on her. Apart from her and his five friends he had nothing. His acoustic guitar and keytar didn’t count, so nothing else alive at least.

He checked the shelves at random, looking for the most popular book in the genre she liked and just pausing to make sure she didn’t already own it. ‘The Bloody Gown’ was the next in a very long and eternally gritty series he was sure had a higher word count than the Void Tome the Church of Notch used. Too many words, in other words.

He’d gone to a checkout, avoiding the notice of the various shoppers who had a somber tone to their voices in the chill of the evening. They all looked a lot warmer than he felt. An elderly woman was having a frustrated bout at a young checkout assistant. Her white face was very red and growing a stronger shade by the second, spit on her chin and eyes flashing behind glasses.

“This is an outrage. My card has worked for every single time I’ve come here in the past as a valued customer, and I fail to see how it shouldn’t work now.”

The checkout assistant was doing their best to keep a calm face, their eyes occasionally glancing away to where the staff room was at the back. The door was partially open and someone in the store uniform had half a leg out. The assistant was trying to stall for the manager to arrive, it seemed. They held a pale brown hand up placatingly and kept their best retail voice on.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but as I’ve told you your card has expired and we or any other store can’t accept it as a form of payment. You can go to the bank, or they usually arrive in the post-”

“Can I help?” Said a tall black woman with a Manager name tag on her work clothes a lovely rich voice.

The elderly lady gave a sharp look at the checkout assistant – who Sparkles admired for their patience – and turned to the woman almost twice her height.

“She isn’t letting me pay with my credit card.”

“He.” Said the checkout assistant, feeling for their short hair automatically before quickly returning to a more neutral position.

“Oh, well, I couldn’t tell and it doesn’t really matter.”

“Ma’am. I would ask you to please treat our staff with respect.” The Manager looked sternly down at her. “Now, our assistant won’t have prevented your card from being used. There is likely a reason it isn’t being accepted.”

“Well, I can’t go home without food, can I?”

“Unless you have an alternative kind of payment I’m afraid you can’t leave with your items, either.”

Sparkles was embarrassingly waiting behind the old woman and doing his best to remain out of it. He still caught the eye of the checkout assistant and tried to smile non threateningly and conveying the awkwardness of the situation. He sighed with his body and looked back at the rest of the shop. Sparkles turned and was glad no-one else was behind him. Hestayed looking out for his mother until the angry woman had stormed off.

When he came to face the checkout assistant he wondered if he should say something, apologise or compliment them for managing not to cry from the onslaught he’d faced.

“Just these please.” Was all he managed.

“I’m sorry about that.” He replied. “We usually don’t have rude customers that often.”

“It’s ok. You dealt with them a lot better than I would’ve.”

“Thanks.” He smiled. “That’ll be £22.98.”

Sparkles handed over his coupon and placed the cash on the checkout. He glanced behind him again as the assistant scanned and collected his money. His mother was poking her head around the corner with a thoughtful expression, but she smiled when he waved to get her attention and then withdrew back around the corner.

“A penny change.”

“Thank you.” Sparkles said, taking the coin from their outstretched hand.

For a moment he thought about complementing their hair or look, make them feel more secure about themselves after the angry woman’s disregard. The moment passed. He blushed.

“Have a nice day.” The assistant said.

“You too.” He managed, hurriedly gathering his bag and receipt and power walking back to where his mother was.

“You not done looking for presents yet?” He asked in mock boredom.

“I’m just heading to pay now.” She said, hiding the shopping basket behind her back, as if her gift for him wouldn’t be hidden by the bread and milk. “No peeking.”

Sparkles hid just out of sight of the checkouts to avoid blushing at the checkout assistant again. When he caught sight of his mother reaching the door and looking back at him he finally stopped pretending to be choosing between spices and slipped between several shoppers and outside where the temperature dropped as low as his confidence had at the checkout.

They walked silently for a while as they skirted towards the library and the park next to it, at the edge of the busy part of the city. It was on route back to his mother’s house and also where he’d agreed to meet up with his friends. Panda worked volunteering shifts there, and so it was always convenient for them to gather there before they would go out for the evening.

As they reached the corner where Sparkles and his mother would part ways they stopped and she carefully put the shopping bags down by the side of the iron spike barrier that separate the street from the front garden of the house. She wrapped her arms around him and he less quickly did so as well. He was the first to break away after a few seconds, the hug a little awkward from the bulging backpack she was patting. Their breath rose in amber steam around them and the golden light around them made each moment aesthetically beautiful in his mind.

“I’ll speak to you soon, darling. Be safe tonight.”

“You too, mum.” He said, smiling at her and adjusting his backpack slightly. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She replied, hand rubbing his shoulder.

He took a last breath and looked both ways before jogging across the street. When he looked back over from the safety of the opposite pavement he had to wait for a few cars to move out of the way before he saw his mother again. Lit up in red from car taillights and hunched over from picking up the shopping bags, she looked more tired and hurt than she would ever have liked him to see.

He turned away after they shared a parting smile and headed towards the entrance outside the library, where the others would be waiting for him.

*

Staying safe in Minecraftia after dark wasn’t too hard when teenage boys are usually the most threatening people you see out of the alleys and rooftops. Nilesy had been very conscious of how much space they took up and often spoke out loud to warn them to keep in. Leo would sometimes shift around when they were being a little noisy, particularly in the game store where the tired looking men behind the counter had been eagerly waiting for them to finish looking at the preowned games and let them lock up. It was an out of the way little hardware store and they knew the boys well enough to know they weren’t trouble, but still, even Sparkles felt anxious to leave so that they weren’t an inconvenience.

He’d bought little mini figures of comic book heroes online for his friends already, but he still splashed out on a key ring with Light from Deathnote on it because he felt like he could treat himself. Everyone else had also bought games, DVDs and even a CD among themselves, some hidden away and assumably presents. They’d looked in interest at the new anime released, the awful looking horror movies, and now, finally they were heading to one of the last places they usually visited.

Hell’s Arcade was where Nilesy and Panda had first started holding hands and where Kogie and Parv’s most intense Pokémon battle had gone down. Several large scuff marks had been left by the teens as they had worn wheelies while they allowed and the prize counter had gone through several renovations in the years, since they had been so fortunate in their ticket winnings.

“Will we be lucky today, lads?” Kogie said, rubbing his hands together and crouching as if he were riding a bike before a claw machine.

All of them were aware of the how the machines were all rigged, but they viewed it more as a challenge, a part of the fun, rather than something irritating. Sparkles swallowed and leaned across the aisle from Kogie between Leo and Parv to squint inside at the prizes. A bunch of plush monsters from The Sands were strewn on the floor of the inside, their features cute enough to attract the children and realistic enough to make the adults pause and shiver. Most were in awkward positions to grab but a creeper and a giant spider were in fairly promising places.

“Let’s hope so.” Leo replied. We’ve only so much change and we all need to leave with something.”

“We’ll start on the next one.” Nilesy said, leading Panda/ by the gloved hand to the next machine and offering the pot of coins so that he would be the one to start.

“It already has a go in it.” Panda exclaimed.

“It’s looking good.” Parv said.

“It’s looking pretty good.” Kogie said. “Look at me go.”

The claw moved towards the creeper but he accidentally held the control stick forwards for too long and missed it by several inches.

“Fu…dge brownies.” Leo said, glancing behind him to wave at the watchful owner of the place. “On toast.”

“Next time.” Kogie said. “I can feel it.”

“Are you feeling it?” Leo asked Sparkles, raising an eyebrow at him and nudging his shoulder.

He thought about it for a moment. Let his thoughts wonder. There were parallel dimension theories he’d read that had suggested what he had already known, how infinite worlds existed, ones in which everyone had the best luck, ones where everyone had the worst luck, ones where none of them had existed in the first place. There was likely a universe where every time they put in a coin they would win a toy from the machine, but this wasn’t one of them.

**_The machines wouldn’t give them anything today._ **

“You never know.” He said anyway. “Even if you just manage to get it stuck we can call over Mr Gregor and get him to fetch it out.”

“Good plan, Sparks.” Kogie said. "I was going to do that anyway, but yeah.”

“We’re halfway through our money already.” Nilesy said. “Do we want to be able to go on the shooters or not?”

“One more turn each.” Parv said, taking money from the pot and distributing them between himself Leo and Sparkles.

Their hopes were dashed after each failure and despite the certainty in his mind that they wouldn’t get anything he still tried his best. Parv’s tongue had stuck out adorably as he’d flicked the control stick around and Sparkles had smiled at the pout he’d had when the machine’s lights flashed red and failure music played. He put his arms around his friend as Leo went for his turn and they waddled together in the comforting hug.

“Oh, Parvis.” He crooned mockingly.

“It's laughing at me, Sparkles.”

“I know, I know.” He pecked his cheek. “Is that better?”

Parvis grinned at him as they separated. “Yeah. I’ll have to lose more if you comfort me like that every time.”

“Ha. No.” Sparkles shook his head and walked to the machine, grasping the control stick and taking over as Leo withdrew again.

“Go on, Sparkles.” Nilesy encouraged from his side.

The others were all gathered around him as he sighed and gave it his best. He lost, as he had suspected. In all honesty, he was the closest to winning, seeing as he knew when to stop moving. They all made disappointed noises and moved on towards the coin shooter machines. It took a good ten minutes for that novelty to wear off and then, finally, they got to Sparkles’ favourite part.

 _“Castle of the Deceased 2.0”_ Roared a monstrous voice. _“Enter if you dare.”_

“Oh man, do we dare, guys?” Parv turned to the others.

“Hell yeah.” Sparkles picked up one of the plastic rifles and aimed it at the screen. “Hook me up.”

“Aye aye, captain.” Leo said, and entered several coins into the slot.

“Who’s first?”

“I’ll beat you this time, bud.” Nilesy said, picking up the other rifle and looking at him with a determined grin on his face. “Panda, babe, would you just push up my glasses for me?”

“Kick ass.” Panda said, carefully raising Nilesy’s glasses further up the bridge of his nose and quickly placing a kiss on the lips, before moving to the sides where the others could watch them.

 _“Shoot to begin”_ The evil voice said.

“On the count of three.” Leo said.

“On three or after three.” Sparkles asked, as always. Their routine.

“On three.” Parv said. “One, two, three!”

In harmony Sparkles and Nilsey shot start and they prepared themselves for anything as the game set itself in motion.

The game had a set path through the castle it would follow and all the players had to do was shoot the zombies and other monsters and survive to the boss. The high damage they’d take when they were hit by a thrown object or the points lost from hitting a civilian were vicious reminders of the difficulty of the game. They all held records on the board but the six top spots were all owned by Sparkles.

When the camera twirled around Sparkles knew exactly when to

**_go left_ **

or when to hold off a shot at

**_a civilian_ **

as the others oohed and ahhed.

**_Up_ **

**_Down_ **

**_Bottom left_ **

**_Thrown bottle to the right_ **

**_Below the barricade_ **

Sparkles felt rather than saw Nilesy groan and put down his gun as his character died.

“Every time. It’s always that same sorcerer.”

He continued until he reached the boss and then let himself die so that Panda could then have a go.

“Please go easy on me.” Panda pleaded. “I can’t see out of one eye.”

“I’d tell the game that.” Sparkles said. “I’m not the one trying to kill you.”

Panda lasted almost as long as Nilsey but got hit by too many spiked clubs and also fell. Sparkles made it to the Boss after furious concentration and a lack of blinking and

**_Left stay_ **

**_Lower_ **

**_Aim for the center eye_ **

until Leo and Kogie decided to share a go, as both had different strengths in the game.

“This better work.” Kogie laughed.

“We might not beat this damn psychic’s score but we can at least make it to the Boss.”

“I’m not psychic.” Sparkles protested.

“You know something about where to shoot.” Parv said.

“I’m just on my toes the whole time. Let me blink some moisture into my eyes a moment and let’s do this.”

**_Keep shooting_ **

_**Top left** _

**_Behind the staircase_ **

Even with their tactics Kogie and Leo still failed. Leo turned towards Sparkles after he died and mock shot him in the head.

“Next time.” Sparkles said.

“My turn!” Parv leaped to his side and grinned at him. “I am so ready this time.”

“Show don’t tell.” Sparkles smiled and then readied himself and let himself focus.

Whatever this

**_Top right_ **

**_Aim for the heart_ **

knowledge was, he wasn’t sure if it could help him with much more than arcade games. He was sure he could let himself live and use it for fun stuff, though. These were a different kind of thing than what he _saw_. _Knowing_ was simple to accept and painless. Those things he _saw_ were what caused the headaches and nightmares.

Parv made it to the Boss with him, though his health was low. The demon lord roared at them and mocked their pitiful bullets with the same voice from the main menu, and it was with immense satisfaction that Sparkles watched the health bar go down. When the demon lord did his last attack, a sliver of life left, Parv was unlucky and perished.

“No!” Sparkles gasped. “I will avenge you, my friend.”

“You better.”

And with the confidence of a guy with nothing to lose, he turned and smiled at his friends watching awestruck as he killed the Boss without even looking.

“Not even my best score.” He said sadly as the scoreboard came up.

He hid his happiness well, and even though his friends were likely miffed at their loss his self-esteem was always higher after this game.

“Dude, shut up.” Nilesy said.

They all laughed and Sparkles put down the gun.

*

It was getting late, the stores shut and the night bitterly cold. The teens were winding their way home and passing a few food shops and looking thoughtfully in. The windows were bright portals into whole other worlds, people huddled inside for their late dinner or for just a bite. They walked through the spotlights of the streetlamps, staying in the light and letting the orange wash over them in waves. Sparkles felt pleased with the evening, smile stuck on his face. Tonight was a night of getting things done, and he wasn't quite done yet.

**_Keep going_ **

“Do we have time to eat?” Sparkles said, spirits high.

He wasn’t just hungry there was something else there. He felt like there was somewhere specific they needed to go, somewhere not far. His feet were leading him in a direction he wasn’t sure of but didn’t mind about. The others lagged behind but seemed alright with the offer. Nilesy and Panda were holding hands again and Parv was on the heels of Leo and Kogie as they tried to keep up with Sparkles. They all thought among themselves.

“It’ll be warm.” Nilsey said, musing out loud.

“A snack couldn’t hurt, right?” Leo said.

“Alright.” Parv said, turning to go for the door of a fish and chip shop but paused when Sparkles kept going.

“Um.” Kogie said. “You have somewhere specific in mind, Sparkles?”

“Kinda.” He said, not letting the worry of how untrue that statement was seep into his mind as they kept walking. Everything was going how it should be. “I’m feeling. Feeling…”

They turned a corner and looked at the only lit up shop among the apartment blocks of the neighbourhood.

**_Inside_ **

“Ice cream?” Panda asked incredulously.

“Ice cream and hot chocolate.” He added.

“Why not.” Parv said, shrugging and making off for the door. “They're pretty cheap there.”

The group huddled together to avoid the crosswind as they crossed the road and hurried inside to where a few people still sat around with a drink. A few late night dates eyed the teens, and a boy their age looked up at them as he was wiping down a table and let out a sigh, carefully controlled so it wouldn't cause offense.

“Can I help you? Ice cream or hot chocolate?” He asked, an accent making his ‘s’ sounds more like 'sh' sounds.

There was something about the place that made sense to Sparkles. A feeling that everything was working out. He wanted ice cream and hot chocolate sure, but the door off to the side, a toilet he didn’t really need, was somewhere he wanted to go. 

**_Inside_ **

He paused for a moment, thought through everything. He hadn’t had a certainty like this before, a calling, so to speak. It felt too right to ignore. Something he had to see was in the bathroom, and he hoped for his sake it wasn’t something gross, like an unflushed toilet.

“Would you get me mint ice cream and I'll share a small hot chocolate with you, please, Parv.” Sparkles said, moving towards the door. “I need to go, quickly.”

“Pay me back in a bit or else.” Parv warned, pointing an accusing finger in his direction.

“You got it.” He replied, shoving the bathroom door open and falling into the space of another person as it swung shut again.

“Uh, sorry.” He mumbled, watching the teenage boy about his age back up a little and seem to take him in with a face scrunched up in a frown. He had been waiting right inside the bathroom.

**_Waiting for him._ **

“No worries. I knew you wouldn’t hit me in the face when you came in, but I wasn’t so sure on how close it’d be. Guess I was a bit to enthusiastic.”

He seemed awfully certain with his words and Sparkles found himself taken aback by his forthright attitude.“Wait, I...what? What dou you mean?”

Sparkles looked at the boy, his dark brown skin and messy hair and the stubble on his chin. He had a pensive expression on his face, one fist clenched by his side and the other tousling his hair. His eyes were dim and bloodshot, shadows underneath them. His jacket and jeans were thin and far from warm, and his trainers were scuffed up from heavy use. It looked like he’d sprinted here to use the bathroom rather than come for ice cream after a night out. He didn't look like he fit in with the rest of the less ruffled people at the Ice Cream Shop, anyway.

“What’s your name, friend?” He said, leaning back against the sinks and letting Sparkles stare at him in turn. “You can call me Kush.”

“Sparkles.” He said. The guy had relaxed his fists, and didn’t really seem at all murderous or insane. The vibe he got from Kush was one of them both being in some mutual place in the world.

**_He could trust him._ **

“Sparkles, ok. I _know_.”

He paused for a beat. “About?”

“The thing you have. That we have. The power.”

He looked at Kush in confusion for a moment, even though something like gloopy toxic waste oozed in the pit of his stomach. A sunken ship with the knowledge, the acceptance, of what he had was rising up from where he'd sunk it the night his father had died.

Kush sighed. “Do I have to say it? The visions, the dreams. The _knowing_.”

“Oh.” He swallowed. He couldn't do this right now. The positivity from earlier was sickly swirling around in his stomach, and he felt his pulse thudding in his head, his breathing loud to his ears. “I don’t-”

“You just won an arcade shooting game.” Kush said. “You practiced with one of your friends in a band practice room earlier." He smiled wryly and not unkindly, brushing his hand through his hair again. "You dream of apocalypses yet?”

He shook his head with a frown. _That_ didn't sound good on top of everything else he was suffering from.

“Oh, the best is yet to come for you then, my friend.”

"I'm sensing sarcasm, Kush."

"You would be right then."

Sparkles took a deep breath. "I dreamed of a bomb once.”

“A nuke? You see what kind?”

He shrugged.

Kush looked away at the cubicles. His nose wrinkled. “I don’t think that’s here; I’ve never had that one. Not that I've ever _seen_ a great deal.” He paused, then a statement. "You understand."

Sparkles clenched his fists until he felt little stings of pain in each palm and controlled his breathing. He squeezed his eyes shut and let bright colours explode to life behind his eyelids. There had to be something to come from this, something good. There had to be some kind of purpose to this sudden meeting neither of them had really known the details of, like what he'd felt earlier when walking here.

“What-what do I do?”

Now that he’d met the first person who probably knew more about this thing of his then he did, he intended to find out as much as he could during their brief talk.

“Am I really super powered? Is it more than just déjà vu and nightmares?” He opened his eyes and looked desperately at the other boy. "Can I stop it?"

Kush looked him in the eye and there was a sadness there. But there was also a tension coiled in the air between them that grew more uncomfortable the deeper Sparkles went down the rabbit hole.

“I know little things. What I could glean from the internet and...from here and there." He crossed his arms. "Yeah. We’ve got some kind of premonition thing going on. Sometimes retrocognition. That's the past stuff. You can learn to control it a bit better so you don't just see random points in time and space or whatever. You can't get rid of people's powers though, at all s'far as I can make out. It won't go away, just get a little easier when you know how to deal with it all. And, seriously, it is the most pain in the ass of like every power. As far as I can tell.”

“Really?”

“It has its uses, sure, but it will make us go insane if we let it, Sparkles.” Kush said seriously. “Don’t let it get to you too bad, or it will destroy you. Your mind, your life. You know what they say about these things: a gift and a curse.”

“This is stupid.” He said suddenly, triggered by a shiver down his back and a harder throbbing in his head. “I’m in an ice cream shop's bathroom, talking with a random guy about powers I can’t even really have.”

“Would it have been better if we met in the library park, do you think?”

Sparkles sighed, focused. He felt incredibly flighty, restless. He didn't like Kush having the upper hand knowing these things about him while he knew nothing about him.

You seen the green eyed woman?” Kush asked, gauging his reaction.

He perked up at the neutral ground between them. “Cassandra?”

“I've only glimpsed her once. Is that her name?”

He nodded, interested now.

“Well, she’s a good sign, alright. She’ll help you out. Be a kinda guide to what you'll see, at least.”

“Wait you mean…?”

“I ain’t no Obi Wan Kenobi, friend.” Kush said. “You gotta find your own help. She's only about serious Universe things as well. You can't be shown lottery numbers or that kind of shit.”

“What the fuck do I do then?” Sparkles asked, frustrated. His cheeks reddened at his assumption that this other teenager would be the help and answer he needed for his issues. He had expected too much and fought to think of a line of direction he wanted this conversation to go in to avoid snapping and shaking Kush until he told him everything.

He finally gave in and began pacing around the bathroom, looking at their reflections in the mirrors. They looked fake and wrong in the reflective glass, dirty. He was glad no-one else was in the bathroom because the thought of someone knowing about what power they had made him feel colder than he had outside. His mother disliked people with powers and magic, as did many others around him. His friends were quite possibly very wary of supers too. As a child he had dreamed of his father's death a week before it happened and he did nothing. What would his mother think of him?

“I’ll tell you what I’m doing, Sparkles. I’m getting the fuck out of Minecraftia. My family too. You’d do good to get out as well, while you still can.”

“What do you mean?”

“This place isn’t good for us. For supers. For heroes.”

“I don’t feel very heroic.”

“You won’t. I also wasn't just talking about you. There are other people - naturally born powered, magically endowed, or neither - who are out there now and will continue to appear. The real point is there are bad people in the making too. Some people have always been around for centuries and others are yet to tip over the edge.”

“Any idea who?”

“DoG, for one. He and his posse are going to be very bad in the the years to come. He’s and his underlings are real by the way, not just that urban legend that haunts alleys and knocks out people. Aside from that, I just know there will be others, who I won't be around to see, thankfully.”

“I still really don’t get what I’m going to do. I can't tell anyone because it's not safe. I can’t leave to where it's safer either. I have a life here.”

Kush sighed, stood right in front of him.

“I hope you don't die awfully then because you seem like a cool guy. I knew I was to meet and warn someone - you - in this situation but I really can’t do anything for you. I don't know anything more. I..." He clenched is jaw. "It will hurt. It may kill you to let things go but you must. Uh, remember everything while you can or you'll lose brain things that you really need to keep functioning as a human.”

"You gleaned all this from little visions? That seems unlikely."

"True. It's part of my _knowing_ , Sparkles. Warnings that those with more than me had cracked under it all. I told you I _saw_ very little and that's still true now, most of it all was the _knowing_ of things. I knew enough to stay alive." He looked at his wrist and his mouth curved into a sad smile. "I haven't got anything else for you, I'm afraid. I'm just the start."

“Ok. Fine. One thing.” Sparkles said, sensing that he wouldn’t ever see Kush again. He could hardly keep him against his will in the ice cream bathroom anyway and his friends would soon get suspicious. He'd been told _almost_ enough for him to want a break from everything to work things out. “Have you dreamed about dying? About yourself dying?”

“It’s always the first vision.” Kush said. “That’s what was whispered to me.”

“Whispered? By whom?”

Kush looked uncomfortable, as if he'd said something bad, and held out a hand to shake Sparkles’ hand. He looked sadly at him with a sense of finality in the air. “Don’t trust the Void, Sparkles. It exists to destroy us. And don't make deals for more power. It really isn't worth it." He stopped shaking his hand and Sparkles felt a headache pulse in his temple. "It’s been good to know I wasn’t alone and I hope you survive this. If we ever meet again, it'll be in Holoron. They're more friendlier to powered people and mages.”

Sparkles stood and stared at the empty space Kush had been in as he began to push the door open. His head was filled with pain, questions and answers and things that suddenly seemed to make sense. He understood there was loss here, when he realised what he knew.

His mind went back to the body in the alley he’d seen earlier in a vision. The blood covered techno armoured figure. The face he recognised now. Kush wouldn’t make it out of the city. Kush wouldn’t ever be safe. He wondered if he knew DoG would kill him in the end after all. He wondered if he knew his escape plan was in vain.

"I'm sorry, but I doubt it." He said to the empty bathroom, the door swinging shut behind the only other seer in Minecraftia and another to add to the list of people he had failed to save.

** END OF PART 1: INNOCENCE **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I've messed with the HTML so it actually looks good and edited a few conversations so that they make more sense then they did at 1AM when I first posted this chapter. I'm sorry about not updating since the start of the school year but I was seriously distracted by work and general procrastination and so for that I'm sorry. I'm getting back into the swing of things and I hope anyone reading bears with my hideously long chapters. I thought the average word count would be 10000 but apparently I decided to do even more this time and that's irritating for me who wants to finish these chapters a lot faster than I actually do.  
> I didn't think the asksuperyogs tumblr blog would be on hiatus even longer than this story would but I'll keep going until I finish this because I don't want this wonderful AU to fade into fandom history. Asksuperyogs.tumblr.com is the official blog, the mod's blog and the tag specifically used for superyogs things is randomaffection.tumblr.com/tagged/superyogs and I strongly advise you if you're randomly reading this fic without AU context to put /chrono in the url for the ask blog and go through everything and enjoy several years of content at your fingertips.  
> I thank you all for reading this and giving me kudos and I wish randomaffection all the best whatever they're up to.


	4. Mad World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the rest of his life suffers from his dreams, Sparkles is doing his best to ignore them. The visions he dreams of may still haunt him, but he has picked up the ability to shake off the ones that trigger when he's awake, though a pressure grows in his head. In preparation for University, he and his friends go to an Applicant Day. Unfortunately for him, there's something about the people there that means the visions keep on coming. Then he finally understands the consequences for ignoring them.

**_G̢rey͞ sm͘ok̡e, ̕cu҉r͢l̴ing͝ e͞ve҉r̕y̧wher͡e̢ ̡ar͏o͘un̡d. Dar͏k̶e̕r a͡n̨d ͡d̡arker̸ l̢i͜k̴e ͏şwo͏ll̶e͠n̢ ̵t͠endri̡ls̴ t̷h͘at͜ r͡os͏e͜ l͞i̡k̢ȩ a ̨great͜ ̨b҉e̶ast̸ ͟above M̵i̷necr̨a͝ftia.͏ ̡It͜ wąs̷ b͘urni̵n̨g. ҉I̶t̴ w̧a̡s ̧d͜ying.̶ Th̷e̕ ͞s̵k͝ys̢cra͠pers̴ we͟re͝ cr̡a̶s̢h̡ing to̧ the ̛gŗo̴und ͏wi͡t͞h ͘l҉oưd̡ gro͘ans an͏ḑ the ͏higḩ-p͞i̶t͞ched ̢shr͟i̸ek o͢f̛ ҉sn͏appi̢ng̨ st̡e҉e͢l͜ ̕an͢d ͘g͜l̛a̵s̕s, ̡s҉ho͝ckw͡av͡e͡s ̴pa̴s͢s͟ing t̴h̡rơugh th̶e͞ g͟roun̷d a̸nd rat͟tling t̕he o̕ther̛ s̕tructur͡a̕l rem͢ain͡s̴.͜ All̛ ̡ar͏o͜u͠nd͠ him͏ li͜v̨ęs endin͘g, s̨p͝l҉ut̡te̵r͞in͏g ̴ou҉t҉ lik̨e ca͝n͜d̢le̴s͏ ̸starv͝ed ͜o͘f ̷ox͜y̧gen͢.̵ ͏S̸o̕me͘w̷he͢re ̸in t̴he̡ d̴i̡stan̵c̛e̢ t̕her҉e ̴wher͝e two f͠ig̨uręs ̡f͞i͜g̴ht̸in͏g, rum͜b̛l͘eş a͢nd̢ ̛cracks̷ f͠o͡l҉l͜ow͟i҉n̡g ̛t̢hem ̵as͢ t͏hey ͡mov̷ed ̛apar̡t̶ ̢aņd thŗe͏w ̷th̡e͢m̵s̴elves a͢t o̢n͟e a̸not҉h̶er again an̨d ̷again. A s̸t̨orm ͞c̸lo̢u̷d c͡ame ̕from̛ ̕t͝h̴eir҉ p͝a̢th͘ a̷nd fi̴r̛e͟ ͜w͟h̡i͜rled arou͡n̴d̴ th̕e͢m̸,̷ sh͡i͡eld̷i̡ng the҉m ͠from mu͢ch o͜f h͏i͟s̵ vie͘w͡.̴ ͢They w̕ere͟ ͏sh͟i͝n͠in̛g l͟i͜ke ͟flar̸es͢ ̴am̧ong eve͜ry͜thing͝ e͠lse̵ in ͘his͝ vi̴sion̕.͟ T̢he̢y w̷ere͡ ͟burn̵in͝g out,͢ ̕an͟d with͞ t҉hem ̸t͘he ̢c҉i̡ty._ **

**_He was separate from the destruction, an apathetic viewer, but at the same time he felt every last scream, every snuffed out life, every heart that filled with despair and every mind that blanked out in terror. He wasn’t among them; this was after his death. He knew this from Dream Logic._ **

**_He was everywhere and everything and nowhere and nothing. He was dreaming. This wasn’t real. ****_**

 

 

**_And with that realisation the world exploded before his eyes._ **

*

The feeling of returning to your body is an awfully grounding experience, he’d found. This was especially so when you went from being everything and without weight of being or thought back into your weak fleshy human body. Especially when you then had a mind to process the terrifying imagery you’d seen.

Sparkles would wake up night after night like this, hot tears on his face and so fucking done with it all. This had been the worst yet in all its grim detail and in his reaction too. The glass he had knocked over in his first dream of Cassandra had been months ago but may as well have been years with how badly these destructive visions were stacking on top of one another. After the meeting with Kush – that stupid fucking dead bastard – every night was strewn with horror. He refused to remember every disgusting detail but some aspects were repetitive enough that he could describe them in words.

He’d seen so much death. The crushing of skulls and the oozing of brain matter out through the cracks. The impaling of iron bars through chests as bones splintered and flesh and blood soaked into the ground. He’d seen the Ice Cream Shop crushed by the apartment block next door too many times. The student housing he’d watched burn from an escaped kitchen fire in some future, becoming part of a gigantic volcano as it rose and moulded itself with half of Minecraftia in some other one. A 100ft tall mecha robot had punched through the office buildings. An earthquake tearing a crevasse in the suburbs. They weren’t even a small fraction of all he’d seen.

When superpowered people got involved, even when they were blurred to his vision as was in the latest dream, there was always more carnage. He recognised Sjinergy sometimes, always the same after all these years, using everything he had to take down something green and with more disregard for the lumps of flesh among the rubble than the hero. Sometimes he looked like he was winning, often it looked like he was losing terribly. Sipsman was another grey beast he’d thought he’d glimpsed once, thrown through a portal to somewhere ominously dark grey and then shut when he was only half way through it, his intestines falling to the ground with a wet _splat._

Most of it though was from afar. General visions of mass destruction depicted so casually through his passive detached presence that he often felt sick to his stomach just thinking about them. The focus was on the deaths of many people, the catastrophes that could happen in this future. Sometimes in others. He really wasn’t sure how to tell the difference at this point, though he knew there must be some power related _knowing_ to it he hadn’t fucking grasped and didn’t want to because the last _damn_ thing he wanted was to understand the end of the world even more intimately.

He lay in bed with his eyes wide open and clung to the duvet cover for dear life. On his stomach with the chill of sweat down his spine and a hot red flush on his cheeks he shook under the protection of his covers.

“What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.” He mouthed into the mattress. His voice trailed off and he let out a high whine as a sob wrenched itself from his mouth. “What. The. Fuck.”

He couldn’t move for a very long time and it was all too easy for his mind to drift to the rest of the depressing things that were heavily weighing him down. He felt so small and useless, tired. He wasn’t sure why he was alive or powered if all that it did was depress him. He turned himself away from such thoughts, reprimanding himself. Tomorrow morning he’d have to regurgitate as much as he could bear without hinting towards his powers. He wanted to make sure he had his story straight.

*

He had a sour taste on his tongue, as if he’d accidentally inhaled the smell of a fart or deodorant and it was grossly lingering. It’d survived half a can of cola he’d got from his fridge that morning as a guilty replacement for a breakfast he hadn’t stocked up for, a glass of metallic tasting tap water from his mother’s kitchen sink, and now, even the cone of cool, sharp water he’d got from the water cooler in the waiting room of The Minecraftia School’s offices.

There was a feeling pervading his thoughts, beyond the discomfort of the hard carpeted floor under the thin soles of his shoes, the public awkwardness of half whispered conversations while avoiding eye contact with the other young waiting pilgrims around him, the disjointed snap of a stapler and rumble of a printer at the receptionist’s desk up the corridor.

Not fear. The counsellor they were seeing wouldn’t be able to tell that he had powers. No-one could. They wouldn’t be able to guess any better than he could know when any woman he saw was on her period. It wasn’t the kind of shit people would know.

Not nausea. He had nothing to hide, and he was doing this more for his mother than for himself. Besides, the taste in his mouth wasn’t _that_ bad, and not bad in that kind of way.

Exhaustion was there, but having apocalyptic nightmares of possible futures was not what tired him most at that moment. This wasn’t about him.

Frustration. Irritation. He didn’t want to be going to an appointment any more than he wanted to be living alone in student housing and apart from his mother. He could be revising old notes, practising on his guitar, walking aimlessly through the library park. Anything but addressing the side effects of his visions.

His friends had been the first to note the dark circles under eyes. Then again, they all had them. You couldn’t look out across the common room at school without taking in a sea of tired faces. Those who wore makeup were physically a little better at hiding it than the rest. There was a sombre quality among the students that came from the growing vulnerability of Minstral, somewhere where, up until recently, had been presented as an attractive place for them to find work after finishing education. They all had a detachment from the monster attacks they never saw thanks to the military and high walls, but the potential of a musical career in the rebuilt Minstral was yet another idealised potential future he’d had to sink to the increasingly full ocean seabed of thoughts and dreams.

Leo knew him well enough to lean against his side one day when they were having lunch and say nothing for a while.

“I love you.” He said, after a minute.

Sparkles had nodded, patted Leo’s side.

“When you need to go to someone I’ll be here.”

He hadn’t dared look at his friend for fear of getting teary. He would’ve died before telling Leo anything about his real issues. A lack of sleep could still be observed when particularly bad, whatever the cause.

The breaking point had been his AS Level Results.

His mother had quietly suggested the evening beforehand he could look into seeing a health specialist, since he’d consistently been mentioning his lack of good sleep every visit. He had said “No” in the firmest voice he could muster, looking her dead in the eye until she looked away and got up to place a book back on her shelf.

It had felt like a stab in the back with an especially serrated blade. An eerie reminder of a time just after his father’s death, when his mother’s friend Harriet had commented on how therapy would help him be less quiet in conversation with others. He had needed to speak less and listen more in that dark and painful time, in the middle of trying to piece his personality back together again after losing the memory of it. Sparkles had never talked to her again, and his mother had not mentioned her around him anymore after that. She’d known he was hurt, back then as a boy and now as a teen, and had given him the larger piece of chocolate pudding as an apology.

The next day he’d picked up his Results and tried to head home first before opening them. His friends didn’t want him to go and peer pressure kept him stuck. He’d felt dead on his feet and his eyes had stung at the sunlight, but he put on a brave face and opened his Results the last out of all of them. He’d buried his face into Leo’s side, crying his fucking eyes out quicker than it’s taken the cursed pieced of paper to fall from his hands and reach the ground.

The dam had burst, and now nothing but the largest of problems could be kept from pouring out of him.

His mother had taken one look at his D in Music and E in English Literature and IT and his tear streaked face, his whole body shaking and clutching desperately to Leo, and gathered him in her arms and held him for hours.

The days after had blurred together as he slept his way to a calmer and number state of mind. He would stay awake all night until the sun piercingly burnt his eyes through the curtains, and only then pass out from exhaustion. His sleeping schedule had been screwed since study leave had begun, and now he was finally seeing how deeply set the negative side effects of his visions were in his life. He hadn’t wanted to face anyone, tell anyone.

His mother had texted him one morning, suggesting she make dinner for him and Leo. She wanted to thank him for taking care of Sparkles and bringing him home on Results Day, though she had sidestepped the name of the occasion in the actual message. She walked on thinner ice than she knew, but she was trying her best.

He’d ignored it for several hours and napped until noon and starving. While in the process of making a toastie he’d nicked his finger on the knife. He’d watched a single bead of blood gather on his finger, and as gravity took hold, slide off the end. It left a shiny red stripe over his fingerprint, and as it fell he felt so fascinated in its descent as it finally landed on the cheese with a soundless impact. He’d watched another drop gather, less quickly and even smaller than the first, easily following the trail left behind.

**_And̸ ̶the̶ņ…͜_ **

**_I̧n ąn̡ apart̸me͘nt s͢cruff̕y ͟a͏n͟d͢ d̛a҉rk̷. Mess o͠n̡ t҉h̨e tabl͟e b͢ooks peņs n͢e͜wsp͝ape͢r̛ş ̡a͡ ͟l͠am͜p͟.̧ He̵ was ͝t̡her̨e o̴n a͞ sofą ͞kne̛e͏s̷ ̨a̛g̢a͢i̛n̨st̨ t͠he ̶e͢d͞g͟e͜ ͢o͡f ̧t͡he ͠t̸ab͞l̷e.͘ ͝Ey͟e͘s g̡l̡assy ͏and f̸u̴ll ͘o͟f te̢a̡rs.͟ Ol͠d̴er̡ and pa̡i̡n̵ed. ̧Ol͡d̴er͠ h̕im͡ ̸s͘hi͏v̵er͞ed̕ gri҉pped şometh͝in͝g ͟h͟ar̴der͘ ̨an͞d͝ desp͢e͠ra̢t̴e. ̡Somet͡hi͠n͢g̨ ̶in̢ ͠his han͞d. ͞A̶ ̸knife.͞ Sha͏r̸p̴ ͟and r͏ed shim͠m̶erin͘g̨ ͢red͟ne͢ss. Hįs͞ p̴alm͘s węre wet ̕wi͢th̷ ͟b͏lo̕o͜d.̛ ҉H͜i̴s̨ ͘o͟w̡n._**

**_And th͢en͘ a͠n͢ot̵h͢er̵ ͞thi͝n҉g…_ **

**_P̸a̸r̛v͠’s lips̴ li̸fti̕n̨g i̸n̢ ̧a ͢toot͟hy̕ gr͝i̴n e͝ye͢s a st͠ar̕tli͠ng ̸red.͡ ̢His ̡c͟lo͏thes ̨sp̛a̕t͘t͟e҉r̶e͏d ͜wi͜th ҉r̶ed ͟s̷ome҉ flu̕id s̨o͏m͟e ļu͜m͏pş b̵its ͠flesh̷. ͘M͝ost ͜on ͏h͘i̴s͝ ͏hands a͏s ͝he reac͘h͘ed down ͟and ̵d̛r͞ew͘ ͞a͢ ͏sha҉rp͢ ͡gơre sta͢ine͢d ̸bu̧tch̨e͘ŗ’s c̷leaver ̨f̕ro̴m̨ t͘he͜ ̢fac҉e̕ o͟f a͠ m̶a͏n. ͏Ba͟ld͡in͞g p͞lump̶ ̷i̷n a͝ bu͞s̸iness͟ ̧s͝ui̡t sp̛l͝ayed͏ on͝ the ͏g̨r̕ound. P͢a͡rv͘ l͝ic̡ked͝ h̢is̡ ̴li҉ps._ **

**_“͏How d̸i͝d ҉I̢ d̸o͠?̡”͜_ **

Sparkles had come out of the vision so rapidly he’d drawn his hands back with a cry and thrown himself back against the counter. The knife had dropped out of his hand and clattered on the floor. It had got very close to his bare feet. He’d had to retreat to the bathroom and thoroughly wash his hands for several minutes until he had calmed down enough to go back and clear up the mess.

The nausea in his throat was swallowed away as he’d picked up the small knife, not even bloodstained or akin to either of the ones he’s _seen._ He’d put in the sink and banished it from his thoughts. The cheese and ham toastie was a lot less appetising after it had the miniscule droplets of blood on the cheese. He’d binned it and eaten two cereal bars instead. A resolve had entered him, though, and he’d texted a confirmation back to his mother.

The meal she cooked with him for Leo was more than just for three of them, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise when Parv and Kogie came with Leo. He’d checked Parv’s eyes when they’d come in and seen with relief that they were the same old muddy brown. There had been a tension up until then that he hadn’t been aware of having, but it was released when he seen his friend was the same as ever. It had made the conversations easier with people he could recognise and trust.

He was still very proud of himself when he didn’t cry at all when they all reassured him. They celebrated what they had done, and they all enthused that they knew he was doing alright out of exams. For a lonely minute, he had wanted to tell them about Kush and the dreams, the horrors and misery and death. But he had seen Parv’s eyes, still brown and normal and so sad, that he couldn’t make himself, he couldn’t. He darkly perceived the dam being salvaged. He wondered how long he could go on bottling the true fears he had.

“I’ve not been sleeping well. Like, at all.” He’d said. “I have the most awful dreams, of everyone and everything dying. Of the city grinding to a halt and dying. I wake up feeling like shit and I – I loathe going back to sleep and going back to these bad things. I get so tired that I can’t stay awake and see… and – and then, even in the day, my mind is so tired it wanders and I remember more of the nightmares and I feel so sick. I hate it.”

Voicing it, making it seem more normal than the power related reality it actually was, was not as cleansing as he’d hoped it’d be. What he saw was real in some dimension that existed or had existed, even, some of it, in this one. Thinking he was powered, accepting it, felt so incredibly right to him, but he couldn’t force it past his lips. He was telling the truth when he said he hated it, even if they weren’t aware of the part of himself he actually hated.

“We’ll go see someone.” His mother had said. “I know it’s hard to talk about difficult things, and…” She’d paused. “You won’t easily tell things to people you know.”

“Go see a doctor. Get some drugs.” Kogie had elongated the ‘uh’ with the slightest curl of a smile on his face.

“Could sell some for some decent profit.” Parv had mused, drawing a laugh from him.

“Not a doctor or medication. Not yet. Not if I can avoid it.” He spoke seriously and with the sincerity of someone who seemed closer to begging than demanding. “I don’t want one unless something gets worse. If I talk to anyone I just want it to be about school stuff. I need to sort that out before other stupid not real things.”

*

He was easily distracted in the liminal space of the waiting room, his mother reading a newspaper she’d been offered at the desk when they had come in. His thoughts were not the respite he ached for, and even formless things were poisoned by his emotions.

Nothing more. Nothing more. Nothing was zero. More could be infinity. Zero infinity. An oxymoron, like he’d learnt about in English.

Fucking words. If he was left to his thoughts for much longer he would reach the state of mind where he would remember how all languages and meanings were arbitrary and only exist because people say they should. Philosophy would turn him mad, and he had agreed to the talk with the Sixth Form counsellor to avoid seeing a doctor.

He glumly wondered if all Seers were pained idiots like he was, metaphorically blind like the King Lear he’d studied, until some tragedy befell them, and only then in madness they could learn to cope with their suffering. He couldn’t remember the fate of the Cassandra he didn’t dream of, the one in Greek mythology. Kush, too, hadn’t seemed very bothered by his powers. He hadn’t _seen_ much though, Sparkles reminded himself of the actual conversation, besides the fact he had suffered enough from being murdered by actual-real-and-not-a-urban-myth DoG. To think, he’d jokingly told his mother about the alley stalker a year ago, the night before his Leaver’s Assembly.

Even dead, Kush seemed less pathetic a Seer than he was, less pathetic a person, even. He had _known_ much more than he had, more than just cheaty arcade game stuff. He had mentioned others as well. His heart said that these elusive others were part of what he saw, what he _knew_ from dream logic. His head told him to shut the fuck up and concentrate on getting grades good enough to get into College. His visions were no good for the life he was trying to lead, and there was no way he would dedicate his life to them, especially not while he was busy with being a student. The future was an adult problem, one that he knew would hurt him more than he could deal with at the present time.

Sparkles was jerked from his thoughts by the soft pressure of his mother’s hand on his left knee. He turned to look at her and her expression was what appeared to be a supportive smile. Gods knew she was trying. Perhaps she somehow knew that they would be going in soon, though he hadn’t a watch or clock within sight to judge by.

“You ready?” She asked. She looked more tired than usual, despite the makeup on her face. He feared she would only grow worse from now on.

He wet his lips, looking away momentarily. The other students here were looking for advice because they were truants and depressed, not because of any reasons like his own. But he had a story. He could get by. “I guess.”

He momentarily placed his forehead on her shoulder, a nudge at its crudest, and then withdrew, expecting the sound of a door at any moment. The photocopier seemed to be growing louder the longer he sat there.

Finally, the rattle of a turned door handle and the tiniest squeak of hinges heralded the return of the client before them. A teenage girl in ripped jeans sighed heavily and walked past him, closely followed by an older smartly dressed man he guessed was her father. She had two studs in each ear and the neatest eyeliner he had seen in his life. She was there and gone in seconds, but for a moment she had been the brightest and nicest thing in his vision.

He was stupid, unbelievably so. The tiniest crushes on anyone he met would ruin him. He still hadn’t been able to go back to the supermarket where he’d bought his mother’s Winter Solstice presents yet, in fear of encountering the checkout guy again. He didn’t want to think about possible deity dream Cassandra at all.

“Sparkles?”

“Uh, yeah, hi?” He stumbled over his words.

A tall woman with blonde hair up in a ponytail and the strictest looking thick lensed glasses he’d seen was leaning out the door and smiling blindingly at his mother.

“And you must be Patreka. Nice to meet you. Do come in.”

She swung back around the door frame and his mother stood up, dusted herself off. He realised she was waiting for him and stood up himself. Too quickly. His vision turned to static for a few seconds as he gripped his mother’s sleeve and trusted her direction.

The room was a grey colour: grey blinds, grey woollen seats, grey shelves on the walls. Even the folders in cubby holes were pale and devoid of colour. The biro pens in the pots were all black and arranged so neatly that Sparkles had the sudden image of her spending all her free time making her office as neat as possible.

He knew the difference at least, he thought as he found a seat in front of the desk. He could recognise when a thought was an amusement or something to do with his intuition. There was a resonation when his powers were involved, now that he knew what to listen out for.

His mother nudged him. He hadn’t been paying attention to what was being said.

“Sorry. I was…somewhere else. Uh, yeah, anyway.” He rubbed his face self-consciously to hide his embarrassment.

“That’s alright, Sparkles.” The counsellor said, smile in her voice.

This felt too personal and they had barely begun. He sat on his hands and tried to force himself to look her in the eye. He made it from his lap to the desk and no further. He had blanked the nameplate on her door, but he could suss out her name from papers signed by ‘Gayle Eld’ on the desk. It put them on slightly more equal footing.

“So,” He swallowed. “You, uh, got some, some, good advice for me?”

Counsellor Eld laughed. “I suppose I do.” She pulled in her chair at the wooden desk. It was a spinny wheeled one, he reckoned. He guessed she had never spun round on it for fun in her time employed here. She leaned forward and opened a thin folder with his name on it. He nervously watched as she placed a notebook next to the first page and took out a pen. “Now, this is all to ultimately help you. Honesty is key here, alright?”

He nodded. He didn’t want to risk his voice at that moment. His eyes settled on her shoulder. It was the closest he could manage and still didn’t feel enough. He was very aware of how he needed to convince not just his mother but also School Counsellor Eld that he was doing fine. He needed distractions from sleep, and he was depending on using this conversation to give himself more of a reliance on school work and revision.

He told her about how he liked his lessons. She could confirm that the teachers thought he was a good student. He told her he loved his friends. His mother confirmed they were the opposite of a distraction. She ran through a list of things that could be troubling him, from drugs to family crises. It felt like an interrogation in the worst kind of way, overseen by his mother. He was glad he rehearsed phrases the night beforehand, it made explaining his issues by blaming them on his past much easier.

“Ok. Alright.” Ms Eld said. She would take her time jotting down notes. Her gaze, when it was focused on him, felt like a lighthouse beam. It scorched him. “Now.” She seemed to begin every sentence with that. “Now, what do _you_ think you need to do to do better?”

He was sure he’d cut off the blood supply to his fingers by now, although he did try to wiggle them to help subdue his anxiety.

“I just…” He felt himself shrug. “I just need to concentrate more.”

“You already seem so preoccupied though, Sparkles.”

“But I just need to prioritise my schoolwork. Get my sleeping schedule in order.”

“Is that really what you think?”

“Yeah. Well, I guess I just need to work on my approach to study and exams. Do practice papers and-”

“Sparkles.” Ms Eld was trying to look kindly upon him, hands in her lap. “Most of your problems are coming from your bad dreams, yes?”

It was hard to call them something other than ‘visions’ without feeling infantilised. She seemed to understand that.

“They are proving themselves the root of your problems. You can’t sleep, and that’s affecting your work and attitude at school.” She leaned forward, laced her fingers together. The only thing that could make her look any more like an anime character would be if she were to have pure white glasses lenses. “Now, I hope you don’t mind me saying, but, you look very tired.”

He forced a laugh. “Yeah…”

“Ok. Are these nightmares every night?”

“Like I said, yes.”

“Including last night?”

He closed his eyes, then opened them. He smiled sadly at Ms Eld. She already knew but he had to say it. He felt his mother’s anxious eyes on him but ignored her in the face of looking strong. He hummed and nodded once.

“Now, I know I’m not…” She looked to be fighting for the right wording. “If this is more a question of your health, both physical and mental, perhaps your best solution would be to seek the opinion of a doctor.”

“But I don’t want that.” He said frantically.

Ms Eld raised an eyebrow at him and even his mother put a hand on his leg again. He nudged her off and instinctively went to run his hands through his hair.

“What I mean is that I’m, just. I’m cautious of medication. Of taking it.” When Ms Eld nodded at him he continued. “The kind that might help me sleep better might not help my concentration when I need it to.”

“Alright. It’s fine to have that kind of cautious approach to medication like that. And I am in no way a qualified doctor to tell you exactly what you need.”

She took a moment to breathe and Sparkles decided to take this moment to chip in and make it very clear what he wanted to do.

“I know what I need to do.” He paused, made sure he had their full attention. “And I want to do my best to do it on my own. I’ve made a few mistakes in my working and concentration. I have a goal and I have checkpoints towards this goal.”

He was using her words against her, but to Ms Eld it sounded like he was agreeing with her in the way she was more used to. She picked up her pen and tapped it against the surface of her notebook. “Ok, that’s good. What is this first motivation? Not all students are anxious to return to school for their second.”

“There’s a trip to the College of Knowledge in the new year. All my friends are going, everyone’s going.” He looked her dead in the eye for the first time. “I want to go. See what I need to do to get into a course I like. Set more targets and checkpoints to work on from.”

“Are you sure you don’t even want to-”

“No doctor trip.” He said firmly, losing his nerve and looking over her shoulder again. “Unless something really bad happens I think I can get a hold on things.”

“Sparkles.” His mother was wringing her hands in her lap.

“I want to try this way first, please.” He couldn’t look at her, though he tilted his head and momentarily let his eyes fall closed.

“Now, Sparkles I want you to answer honestly.” Ms Eld was leaning forward now. She had put the pen down and clasped her own hands. He had somehow succeeded in making everyone else in the room as uncomfortable as he was. “Do you think this is the healthiest thing to do?”

“With all due respect, the healthiest thing to do would be to drop out and get employed in a low stress job.” A sardonic smile was growing on his face.

“Well, yes. Technically.”

He pushed on. “It’s like I said. If something bad happens because it’s a bad dream related health thing.” He waved his hand to indicate how silly a thing he considered his problem. “I’ll go to the doctors and see what they say. I want to stick to getting lots of feedback from my teachers and working from there.”

“Alright.” Ms Elm said slowly, chewing it over. Clearly he wasn’t the usual kind of student she had to talk to about bad grade improvement. She looked over at his mother. “And are you in agreement as to what to do?”

Sparkles looked at his mother for the first time since they had entered the room. He could meet _her_ eyes, see the worry and questions in them. He met her gaze and hoped she could trust him. If she protested too much he felt that some wall inside him would collapse inward, some part of him so badly supported would fall apart. She might do him more harm than good if she tried to find out the root of his problems.

“Yes.” She said, quietly at first. She cleared her throat and turned to look her in the eye. “Yes, we are.”

Ms Eld looked between them both, inhaled, exhaled. She nodded and wrote one last note with a sense of finality.

“Alright. Ok. I trust you both. I hope this talk gave you what you needed, Sparkles.”

“I’ve had some time to think on things. This just allowed me to say it out loud.”

He was talking out his ass, and he wasn’t sure how long it would last.

He walked out, missing the words of farewell Ms Eld gave them. He nodded in goodbye and waited patiently for his mother. She smiled slightly at him as they then moved away, back down the corridor that would lead them out of the offices.

His mind was on autopilot up until he was back at his mother’s house. He was sat on her sofa, mug of tea in his hand. It wasn’t boiling anymore, but it was still quite hot.

“You alright there, darling?” His mother stood in front of him, a neutral expression on his face. “Were you somewhere else again?”

He looked for a mat to put his mug down on and rubbed a warm hand over his face, pushing his fringe back just for it to flop back into place.

“Yeah. Not sure when I sank into it though.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezed him, then withdrew.

“I was just asking if you wanted lunch?”

His hands clenched at his sides. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to. She wanted him to stay very badly, the softness in her face told him that, but he would have to try and let her down gently if he wanted to be alone for the rest of the day. He drifted for a second, and wondered if he had the energy to leave the house. When he came back he had an answer.

“Only something small, please. And I gotta go back, afterwards. Sort stuff out.”

“Of course. I’ll make you a toastie, and the kettles just boiled if you want more tea.”

For a moment, his gag reflex went off. The swimming images of bloody toasties evaporated as he swallowed down the lump in his throat. She had turned away just in time and missed his struggle.

“I’m in the bathroom if you need me.” He said quietly.

“Alright.” Her voice followed him out of the room as he hurried down the hall.

He shut the door for the cubby bathroom under the stairs, and sat on the toilet seat in the darkness for a minute. The smothering of darkness was his favourite feeling. In it he could pretend there was nothing else but it. That everything was fine.

When he switched on the light he could see his bloodshot eyes haunting him from the mirror.

*

“Remind me why I’m up this early?”

“Because our educational future is so very important, and all.”

Parv groaned and flung himself back on coach, rubbing his eyes. Leo tutted.

“Parv, how the hell are you going to survive having a job when we’re done with school shit?”

“I just hate having to get up at a normal time while it’s the weekend.” He simpered. “You know I don’t like mornings. I’ll work night shifts, skip ‘em.”

His shoelaces were flung untied around his feet, too much effort to deal with, apparently. As he lay back, Sparkles could clearly see toast crumbs still around his mouth. His hair was always messy in a somehow attractive way, even now in his dishevelled morning look. He considered asking for tips for the future.

Leo stood by the window and gazed out between the flowery lounge curtains. The shadows fell on that side of the house, and in the distance the wall surrounding Minecraftia was just visible. He had the rucksack containing half the snacks and water hanging from his fingertips and seemed the most passionate about the Applicant Day trip to the College of Knowledge. Sparkles suspected that Leo’s mother had been getting too involved in arranging his half term holiday revision activities and now was enjoying time away and out with his friends.

Sparkles was sat tying up his own shoelaces on the single seater, unpicking a knot that had appeared out of nowhere. He was hopeful for the day ahead, despite the ominous lack of headaches he’d had all week. There was a warm wind blowing in from The Sands, despite how chilly that March had been up until then. As if mindful of his friend’s chronic migraines, rich boy Kogie had secretly stuffed a box of Strifecorp’s headache tablets in the rucksack Sparkles was carrying, winking just before he’d run to the toilet.

The house looked quite minimalist, very different from his home, as well as Leo’s and Parv’s. The little mess around the teens made them feel like squatters in a mansion, all surrounded by delicate vases and mahogany furniture. Unlike Kogie, his parents bought into Strifecorp’s brand. Meanwhile, he was as deeply suspicious of the business man as the rest of their friendship group, trying to avoid the brand. While still with his parents in their home of delicate houseplants and easily stainable tablecloths, he couldn’t escape all their influence.

They’d all joked about the four of them becoming roommates even from their first year when they went out to get their degrees, though it seemed more likely Kogie would be trying to avoid splurging his parents’ money so blatantly to piss them off. He’d told them all under 1AM sleepover secret oath last night that he wanted to stay in normal accommodation the first year, and Leo was put forward to be his roommate, seeing as Sparkles had his emergency housing for the time being and Parv would be getting on well enough on his own.

“More of an adult thing to be doing, anyway.” Leo had shrugged. “Working out where we’ll live, and the four of us in one place.”

“Yeah. If we did, I’d like to be able to help out with the rent and all.” Sparkles had bitterly chuckled. “I don’t want to be a freeloader on Kogie’s trust fund. So, for that I’d need a job.”

“Have you tried the casinos?” Leo had asked slyly.

“When it’s legal, buddy.” Parv had whispered loudly. “Don’t want to get caught before its really begun.”

He sighed to himself and sat up straight after finishing his laces. There was probably supposed to be some bullshit rule about not using his power irresponsibly. Not a lot he could really do about arcade predictions and _knowing_ what to say to people to make them kind of like him. He had morals enough not to even consider robbing people, and he knew for sure he was proud enough not to go for the lottery unless it was to save his mother or friends from a suffocating medical bill. He didn’t like using his power on purpose.

“How will the day go, Sparkles?” Leo asked, back still to him. “Will Kogie get us there safely?”

“Uh.” He said. “I hope…so?”

Parv snorted.

“You don’t sound too confident there, buddy.” Leo said, turning his head now.

Sparkles shrugged. “I don’t have a reason to think otherwise.”

They met each others eyes. He smiled. A jokey smile. Sparkles forced himself to smile himself. His precognition was still a long running in-joke to Leo, even if it no longer was to him. Not that _seeing_ things had ever been funny to him.

A distant flushing noise was heard from a room someone in the house. Kogie’s parents had gone out for lunch at one of their neighbours’ house, so the only possibility, since he hoped to god there was no ghost haunting the place, was that Kogie was done faffing around.

“Do you wish you could drive us, Leo?” Parv asked.

Leo looked at him and pulled an ugly face.

“I can’t drive.”

“You can do it better than either me or Sparks.”

“I reckon I’d be a little better than you though.” Sparkles said to Parv, who flipped the bird at him in response.

“There’s a hierarchy, sure.” Said a voice from outside the room. Kogie walked in, smug smile on his face as he rubbed his hands on his trousers. “And I’m on top.”

“Alright Kogie, alright.” Parv said. “We get it. You’re a top. Shut up.”

“Why don’t you say it louder, _Alex._ I don’t think my neighbours heard you.”

“Fuck me.” Leo said under his breath. “We really never will get there at this rate.”

Kogie checked his watch. “Any other uncomfortable things to get out of the way before we’re trapped in the car. No? Then let’s be off.”

He walked back into the hall, Leo quickly following him.

“Shotgun.”

Sparkles stood up. Parv still hadn’t done up his laces.

“Mind if I lean on you and have a nap while we’re driving, Sparks?”

“So long as you don’t drool, it’s fine, buddy.”

Parv smiled sweetly at him, though it was overly cheeky as he started to walk backwards out of the door. “Chop chop, slow poke.”

Sparkles took a deep breath as Parv spun around and dashed into the hall. There was a twinge of something that might have been pain in the back corner of his head. He hadn’t _seen_ in months, but he had kept on having apocalypse dreams every night. Sometimes he almost _knew_ something, though he made himself quickly forget whatever it was. He hadn’t slept at all last night, so as to avoid disturbing his friends. He felt his heavy eyelids settle over his tired eyes. He was grateful Kogie had packed medicine. He felt he might them at some point today.

*

Parv, true to his word, was leaning his head on his shoulder the whole drive there. Sparkles had watched him closely for drool, but whether Parv was truly napping or just resting his eyes, none came out of his mouth.

In the seat in front of him, Leo had become more and more nervous. Not from the visit, he suspected, but from Kogie’s driving. Their friend had passed last month, barely. It had been a close one, apparently, more of a pity pass. Kogie had been nervously relieved when a rock monster had torn its way across the road in front of him, which forced him to make an emergency stop. The rest of the drive back to the test centre had been cancelled as they’d hurried to somewhere safe away from a battle between the rock thing and Sipsman. Leo was furious they hadn’t let him retake the test, though Kogie had argued that the test bit was finished and it literally was just the last bit of the drive back.

Leo was in the middle of taking driving lessons, so close to being ready for the test but not quite, and so was a lot more vigil and aware of the dodginess of Kogie’s driving. He wanted to be the one driving so bad, Sparkles reckoned. _He_ felt safe enough, personally.

They were currently queuing to get into the College of Knowledge’s visitor carpark. Kogie was drumming his fingers upon the steering wheel, humming along to something on the radio.

“Well this sucks ass.” He said.

“We left enough time to get here.” Leo said. “And, well, we’re here.” He wildly waved around his hand and sighed.

“I still need to park.” Kogie replied. “Point to an empty space, Leo, go ahead.”

Leo sighed again. Sparkles was starting to feel a lot more uncomfortable in this enclosed space. He felt his right eyeball itch momentarily and tried to rub it. Supposedly he could use his vision power to find a space. Except for the fact, that using his power was the last damn thing he wanted to do. No accidental visions. No slip ups.

Parv shifted on his shoulder. He groaned, his breath on his neck making his skin tingle. He stopped his thoughts right there.

“Parv.” He whispered.

“Mmh?” He sleepily replied. “Are we there yet?”

“We’re trying to park. There’s a queue and not many spots.”

“There’s plenty of spots.” Leo said. “They’re further ahead. There’s probably volunteers directing people and that’s why it’s taking a while.”

Kogie moved on from humming to quietly singing along to the Adele song on the radio. Leo sighed again and reached into his backpack for the schedule for the fifth time that day.

“Welcome Talk 9:30. History 10:15. Financial Aid 11:00. Maths 11:45. Lunch Break.”

Sparkles zoned out of his muttering and tried to shift his body a little without disturbing Parv. To his credit, he didn’t get any embarrassing tingles again when Parv groaned again.

“Sparkles.”

He could just hear the pout.

“Best to get ready now, mate.” He said to him. “We’ll have to move pretty sharpish the moment we’re parked if we want to get to the first talk.”

Parv placed a hand on his leg so that he could push himself up into a proper sitting position and reached into his pocket for his phone to check the time on.

“I dunno. You’re pretty comfy.”

“Just because the talk you want to see is later in the day doesn’t mean you get to slack off with the rest of us.” Leo said. “Oh look guys, they’re moving ahead. Better pinch yourself awake, Parv, the time is nigh. Grab your bag, Sparks, and your positive attitude.” He clapped his hands, making a loud sharp sound that make Sparkles jump, Parv drop his phone, and Kogie swear. “Chop chop motherfucker. We’ve got places to be.”

“Leo, I will crash this damn car just to spite you.” Kogie growled.

Sparkles and Parv shared a look.

“This is scarily similar to how my parents spoke when they drove us to places.” Parv stage whispered.

“I want to get out right now.” Sparkles said. “Kogie, I love you. Please park as quickly and safely as possible.”

He could see the College of Knowledge’s buildings just beyond the large carpark. They were all several stories tall. The architecture was several decades old and he could pick out a few ragged looking drainpipes, but it looked a lot more attractive a learning environment than their school. He felt excitement growing within him.

“See, Leo.” Kogie said in a high-pitched voice. “He knows how to encourage me without being a possibly fatal distraction.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah.” Sparkles said very quietly under his breath, holding on to it as long as he could until he ran out of breath.

“Shit boys, it’s a spot.” Parv said.

“Fuck me it is.” Leo said.

“Everyone has to be perfectly quiet while I reverse into it.” Kogie said. “Not. A. Peep. Assholes.”

Sparkles resigned himself to checking out his window that Kogie’s parking was alright. A car honked as Kogie gradually moved backwards into the spot.

“Yeah, yeah, wanker.” Kogie muttered. “Have fun getting your own spaces.”

They stalled to a stop and all four of them sat in silence for a long second.

“We’re here!” Kogie said weakly. “Now everybody bail.”

Sparkles noticed last minute that his bag wasn’t zipped closed properly, causing Leo to shake his head as he finally slammed his car door shut. They had to speed walk their way between the blocks of office looking places and neat lawns of plain looking grass. The looming brick and the harshly drawn blinds in all the windows made them nervously stick close together. Like sheep, they followed the other teenagers congregating towards central courtyard and the sign in tents.

Sparkles was hit with anxiety and a familiar frustration as they started queuing up to get their complimentary maps and pens. There were many, many teenagers and their confused looking parents milling around. Several grills and food booths were selling burgers, noodles, and cheese to anyone willing to pay, and a student run cake sale was also just outside the Auditor Hall entrance, which, incidentally, was the building where the talk they needed to go was being hosted. Many people were all hurrying inside, some walking into one another. It was weirdly similar to his school during lunch.

“Fuck.” Said Leo.

“My dude, we’re in public.” Kogie said.

“Right. Sorry.” He waved his phone at them. “Nilesy and Panda are already inside and have saved us seats. Apparently, Panda knew someone who was with people who were all willing to take up a whole row for us.”

“Aw.” Said Parv. “Wonder what they’re studying?”

“He didn’t say.” Said Leo wearily.

Sparkles’ eye itched again. Rubbing it only made his head hurt. He had a very ominous shadow at the back of his mind, and the barest of headaches. He was not religious, but he said a silent prayer to Cassandra for no trouble until he could get home. Not that she had ever actually helped him.

They all handed over printed out booking confirmations, Sparkles embarrassingly dropping his bag and almost losing a cereal bar in the process of getting it out of his bag. As they hurried inside Auditor Hall, Sparkles’ stomach turned at the sweet smell of chocolate from the cake sale. The was a café inside the hall where bacon sizzled and bread was toasted, though they walked past it to a pair of thick wooden doors, wide open and with a couple of student ushering people in after confirming they were heading to the right talk.

The followed the dimly lit corridor to a large hall, not unlike a theatre in terms of the ascending rows of seats. There were many spotlights shining on the large stage, a slideshow of images of happy looking students set around the campus was projected on the white screen behind a podium. A single woman was stood adjusting the microphone and her notes, spurring his group to hurriedly scan upwards for faces they knew.

A high-pitched whistle caught their attention, and they, including many other people already sat down, looked wildly around for the source. Sparkles, like his friends, recognised it as a staple Nilesy technique to get their attention. When they spotted him, eight rows up waving with an embarrassed looking Panda on his left, Parv pelted it up the stairs, looking a lot more lively than he had the rest of the morning. Kogie looked behind him, shrugged, and followed him, Leo close behind. Sparkles was the last to troop upwards, glancing around the room in case he saw someone he recognised in the packed hall.

While Nilesy and Panda were sat at the right of the row, from his perspective, four empty seats were between them and three other teenage boys. Sparkles was grimly doing calculations in his head, realising that, as the last of the four, it would be him sat next to a stranger. As a hush began falling over the people sat down Sparkles quickly sidled his way past the strangers and manoeuvred himself to the last empty seat. He placed his bag by his feet and leaned back, releasing a huge sigh.

As the woman began greeting them, the stranger next to him leaned over and whispered to him, his accent surprised him by being Scottish, like Nilesy’s.

“Close call.”

He huffed out a quiet laugh. “Yeah. Gotta hope the whole day won’t be like this.”

“If your timetable is as hectic as Panda was making it out to be, I’m not sure you’re going to be able to see everything today.”

He almost, _almost_ slipped up then. Almost looked to see if the timetable could be stuck to. His eye maddeningly itched, and it was with dread he knew, the way he was going, he was going to get a headache.

“We’re, prepared to split up.” He said. “We’ve all got moral support partners we stick with today.”

“Good for you guys.” He paused. “I’m Ravs, by the way.”

“Sparkles.”

Ravs nodded approvingly. “I’ll look out for you today.”

“All three of you?”

“Zylus and Daltos too. We may have a lunch spot that intersects.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Sparkles looked at him properly for the first time, took in his dark hair, his large frame, the friendly smile on his face. He had the faintest of flickers of memory. He held his breath to subdue the rising urge to check with his power and instead forced a smile back.

He couldn’t continue working it out by questioning him as the woman finished introducing herself as the Head Organiser for Student Admissions by playing a video. For the next half hour Sparkles sat in mildly interested silence as the video described the perks of Uni life here. The range of course were grand. The success of the students was very high. Accommodation was guaranteed for all. Minecraftia may have its shortcomings, but it went above and beyond to support its Uni students.

While a student and a professor were brought on to talk more about what they would expect from studying here, Sparkles took some time to look around the dim room. Ravs reached down into his own bag to take out a water bottle, so he looked the other way, and upwards, until he was sure he was done shuffling his things around, going so far as to move his leg out of the way so that Ravs could move his bag to better replace his own one. He and his friends seemed to be some of the few teens who’d come to the Applicant Day without adult supervision, though it was surprising how many had brought both their parents. Not many others were checking out the rest of the room, the metal rafters supporting the spotlights as well as the people in it. He absently wondered how many others had powers.

**_Ravs sat͏ on͞ th҉e̵ ̕gra͟s҉s̨ ͝i̷n a̕ p͏lay ̷pa̧r̡k.͢ H̶e͡ ͡wa͢s̨ tal̕k͡in͞g to a̛ ̕wi͡d͠e̴ e̛y̨ed͞ ̧boy͞. I̧t l͟oo͝ked͘ like-̨_ **

He stopped, gripped his head. A sharp stab of pain burnt his brain as he tried to block how he’d _seen_ and what he’d _seen_. He dug his nails hard into his scalp and held his breath until he shook from the effort it took not to make any noise. He tried to breathe calmly through his hands to quieten himself, but a nervous glance either side of him showed that everyone on the row was peering at him with concern.

“Sparkles.” Leo whispered.

“’M fine.” He said through his fingers.

“Whatever you need.” He patted his arm reassuringly.

“Um.” Said Ravs cautiously. “If you’ve got water, give it sips. Might help?”

Sparkles shrugged, reached into his bag. Only fucking pills were going to soothe his smarting head. He rummaged around, found his phone, his copy of the schedule, a water bottle, the two cereal bar snacks. No pills. He picked his bag up from the floor and placed it in his lap, opened it up as far as it would go. He took out each object and placed them on his lap. No box of pills. He used the tiny amount of light his phone screen produced to thoroughly check the bottom of the bag. Nothing.

He started to tremble. Despite what Kush had said about Seer deaths, he suddenly certain today was the day his head would explode.

He put everything back into his bag but one thing. He drank water.

*

“Are you sure?” Kogie asked him quietly.

“You saw me checking.” He replied. “They were gone. They just weren’t there.”

“That’s…” He paused to think of something that wouldn’t insult Sparkles.

“It’s bullshit. Absolute bullshit.” Sparkles sighed. “Just my fucking luck.”

Kogie finished searching through his bag and handed it back over. “Do you know where, or, I dunno.”

“There’s no point looking.”

“Will you make it through the day alright?”

“We’ll see, I guess.”

The two of them looked up towards the toilet doors, checking to see if anyone they knew had returned. Leo had been sidetracked by a desire to talk to one of the volunteer students close by, and Parv had hurried to the toilet with Nilsey and Panda the moment they’d all got out of the talk, leaving he and Kogie with Ravs, Zylus, and Daltos. Sparkles thought he recognised Zylus as well, and that memory was a lot stronger. It had been his voice that had done it, as Ravs had introduced them to each other. He worked at the Ice Cream Shop, had been there the night he’d met Kush.

Ravs had enthusiastically explained how the three of them had come from Minecraftia High, the school in the same neighbourhood as the Uni. They would study together in the library some days, which is why they knew Panda. They hadn’t conversed much, conversation trailing off after discovering they didn’t share many subjects. Ravs was going for an English Literature degree, which Sparkles knew a little about seeing as it was one of his A Levels, though Zylus’ Media Studies and Daltos’ Sociology meant nothing to him and Kogie.

When Panda finally returned, Parv and Nilesy in tow, he talked briefly with Ravs’ group, making sure that everyone knew each other. What was even more suprising, and which Panda was very enthusiastic to share, was that they had all met Zylus before.

“You make nice ice cream.” Parv said.

“I just serve nice ice cream.” Zylus laughed. “I don’t. God. I don’t make the ice cream. Do I look like a cow to you?”

“No.” Parv said sheepishly.

“It’s cool, man. It’s whatever.”

Daltos checked his watch, looked at Ravs with concern. “We have a talk to go to very extremely soon, guys.”

“Are you going to the Finance Talk?” Panda asked, leaning against Nilesy.

“Actually, uh.” Ravs chewed on his lip. “Yeah we weren’t really doing anything for like two hours. We can look at accommodation later or whatever.”

“Well we’ll see you later, I guess.” Sparkles waved awkwardly.

“Stay safe, friend.” Ravs said, holding Sparkles’ gaze with a smile.

It wasn’t until he, Zylus and Daltos were walking away that Sparkles recognised that Ravs had been wearing a Neon Genesis Evangelion jacket the whole time. Despite the awkwardness of their interactions, he found himself somewhat liking him. He’d pluck up the courage to compliment his jacket the next time they met up. Or, even better and more likely, he wouldn’t see Ravs again and have to say it.

“What now?” Parv asked.

“Well, we,” Said Panda with a smile, “Have to go to my IT talk.”

“If you try to get me to ask a question for you, babe, I will scream.” Nilesy said fondly, but with a warning edge.

Panda kissed his cheek. “And we’ll also find some other talk that you’d be into before the Finance talk.”

“I still have the Psychology one.” He sighed.

“And you want a minor too, though, don’t you. Something else.”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.” Nilesy said dismissively, waving his hand about. “Anyway.”

Leo was walking back over, a leaflet in hand. “Are you guys heading off?” He asked.

“Yeah. We’ll see you at the talk later.” Panda waved, slowly backing off with Nilesy in tow.

“See ya.” Sparkles said, then turned to Leo. “You done here?”

He nodded, gazing after Panda and Nilesy’s forms disappearing into the crowd of people.

“Oh, it’s me first, isn’t it.” Kogie said.

“History of art?” Parv mused, perched just outside of the triangle that was the other three of them.

“No, just of stuff.” Kogie said, shifting towards the entrance and encouraging their group to follow him. “The history of stuff and people, which you may find boring-”

“Mind-numbingly.” Parv muttered, causing Sparkles to rub his face to hide a smile.

“I, however, am into it. I want to learn about how we used to fight and stuff. And be able to enunciate it like a pro.”

“I think the idea of any of us being pros is weird and fake.” Leo said.

“I don’t know how I can sound smart, just sound sort of pretty.” Sparkles said.

“I just fucking read, to be honest.” Parv said nonchalantly. Sparkles snorted, and his smile grew.

“Ya’ll are amazing in your own ways, really. But you, Kogie, you know a lot more than I do about the past.” He smiled. “I just know how to count really high.”

“No. You’re a maths wiz, man. You discredit yourself.” Kogie replied.

“We all do.” Sparkles said.

“Satirical self-depreciation is a youth thing, apparently.” Kogie sighed. “My parents seemed to miss the funny side of me saying my degree was pointless.”

“Parents are pointless. I’ve had more support from you all than from my birthgivers.” Parv said.

Sparkles said nothing. During the conversation his head had begun the hurt again.

*

The Finance Talk made his heart soar and his head hurt each time he looked at his friends. He had his own brochure, his own scribbled money amounts on the front. His tuition, like every other student studying since Mayor Ridgedog was running the city, was paid for by the Council. He wouldn’t have to start paying it back until he had a stable income, which meant he had thousands in debt he didn’t have to worry about. He would also, because of his mother’s low income and her being a widow, get bursaries of £5000 a year, which would fund his musical plans. Not to mention, the £200 bursary he, Parv, Kogie, and Leo would get from being a competent band.

Everything might have been great, except for the fact it wasn’t a normal headache coming along. Sure, being without migraines for a while had probably made the sensation of having one harder to take, but this felt bad. He thought of the shitty fantasy books he’d read, old collections of his father’s. There was always a calm before the storm which made everyone suffer. His mind had tricked him into thinking he was getting better, when in fact, he was going to get a lot worse. And all in one go apparently.

He only wished he could understand _why._

Zylus and Daltos had headed off to Zylus’ Media Studies talk, and Panda was showing interest in going with Leo and Kogie to the Maths talk. He, on the other hand, was left nervously wringing his hands as he started explaining his problem to Ravs and Nilesy as Parv listened on. He hated having to ask them for things, especially someone he’d just met the same day.

“Let me get this straight.” Nilesy said, brushing his fringe back and smiling and nodding in goodbye to a departing Panda. “But, also get it bi.”

“Hah.” Sparkles weakly said. “I get it.”

“So, you need some heavy-duty migraine pills for your bad head, yeah?”

“Correct.”

“But you don’t want to go alone.”

“Well, you’d get lost, right?” Ravs questioned.

“Yeah, but, Ravs. Hear me out, right. Right.” He paused for dramatic effect. “Social anxiety.”

“Oh, I got ya.”

“Have you really?”

“Well, no.” Ravs thought to himself, sucked on his lip in a surprisingly not gross way. “But I understand your reasoning.”

Sparkles nodded at him and then instantly regretted it as his brain twinged. “Cool.”

“You want company, Sparks.” Parv said firmly, looking him right in the eyes. “We’ll be your company. Though you’ll now definitely have to come to my talk now.”

“I was going to anyway, dick.” Sparkles said with a wry smile.

“Do you have any idea where we’re going, though?” Nilesy asked. “Is there a place on campus where you can ask for some good old first aid?”

Sparkles looked around the corridor they were chilling in for some place to get directions from. They had moved away from the Finance Talk room so they weren’t considered as rude loiterers, but they were still within the same building. They weren’t too far from the toilets of the building, therefore, most of the people who walked past them were moving to and from the facilities. There was an atrium a little along the corridor, where the way out was. It was also very loud there. But there was also staff with directions.

“We need to find someone who knows this place and ask, I guess.” Sparkles said.

“Simple easy.” Parv said. “I like it.”

“So, that way, I guess.” Ravs pointed to the atrium. “Hope you don’t suffer too much until we get you some stuff, Sparkles.”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “Me too.”

They walked towards the noise, the pounding in Sparkles’ head growing by a smidgen the more stimulus there was. It was like the Leavers Assembly all over again, except this time he knew what the pain was from. And there was no Mayor to embarrass himself in front of, just a thousand other strangers.

Despite the water he’d drank, his mouth felt dry as he tried to see someone they could ask directions from. There were a few volunteering students standing around, but they all seemed to be talking with different parents. Parv gripped Sparkles’ sleeve, causing him to look up at him.

“Let’s take our chances by the door. There’s less chance of your little, delicate brain exploding if we can make a quick exit.”

He could only nod, following the soft pull of Parv as he led them through the small crowd that permeated the atrium. With every heartbeat his head pulsed along with it. A woman laughed shrilly to their right, stepping backwards into him and jolting Parv’s grip from him. He clenched his eyes shut and stumbled, shock overwhelming any instinct to right himself. Behind him, Nilesy caught him by the shoulder, making sure he didn’t fall.

“Hey, it’s alright.” Nilesy said. “I got ya.”

“Mum, could you be more careful, please!”

When Sparkles opened his eyes again, his vision swam for a moment. It took a bit of blinking for him to recognise another human being in front of him. A teenage girl his age, long brown hair, winged eyeliner applied, and wearing a nice plaid skirt and tights with her jacket - a pretty brave move with the chill in the air - was looking at him with concern in her incredulous wide eyes. An older woman, cheeks red, appeared over her shoulder. To his surprise she only looked at her daughter.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking.”

“Are you serious?” She rolled her eyes. “Be more careful.”

“Oh, I will.” For the first time, she looked at Sparkles. “Take care.”

The teenager made a disgusted noise. “Unbelievable.”

Her mother turned back to the nervous looking volunteer she was talking to, apparently done with him. It was with a little relief he realised her daughter’s frustrations had been with her, not with him. She breathed deeply and then beckoned them aside, leading them towards a calm corner, not far from the door. Her mother hadn’t seemed to have noticed her departure, even if she had cared enough to make sure she was in sight.

“I’m so sorry about her.”

“It’s fine.” He managed. “An accident.”

“I mean afterwards. She was pretty rude to you.”

He didn’t know what to say.

“Well, at least you’ve got a better attitude than your mum.” Parv said, blunt as always.

She laughed. “I’m Beckii. Two ‘i’s. Hope your day gets better.”

“Yeah, us too.” Nilesy said.

Sparkles swallowed, found his voice.

“What’re you looking to study?”

She looked surprised, but then smiled. “Dance. Might go for a minor in Music.”

“I’m just getting a Music major.” He said. “I’ll look out for you.”

“Cool.” There was a pregnant pause.

“Oh.” He realised. “I’m Sparkles.”

“See you around, Sparkles.” She checked out the others. “And your crew.”

“Yes, we should be getting on.” Ravs said.

“Parv.” Said Parv. “Nilesy.”

“And Ravs.” Said Ravs. “Nice skirt by the way.”

“Thanks. Where’re you heading?”

Nilesy jumped in.

“Looking for somewhere with headache tablets.”

“Well, there’s an infirmary here.” Beckii said. “The map says it’s in the building across the green. I wish you luck.”

“Sorry to leave you here, but, yeah.” Ravs said.

“Nice to meet you.” Sparkles said pathetically.

The others gave a plainer goodbye, Beckii sadly watching them leave the building with a small wave. As Ravs checked the map a pace in front of him, Parv and Nilesy walked next to him, both smiling suspiciously.

“Sparks.” Parv said in a sing song voice. “You dog, you.”

“I god damn am not.” He muttered. “Also, I have no clue what you’re on about.”

Parv did a shitty impersonation of his voice. “What’re you studying?”

“Nice to meet you.” Nilesy joined in.

“Seriously, guys? I was being nice.”

“Very nice to the pretty girl.” Parv grinned.

“Let me live!” Sparkles said fake morosely. “Besides, Ravs said her skirt was nice.”

“Because I came from Scotland.” He said, still looking at the map. “And the pattern was a typical Scottish pattern.”

“Hear hear.” Nilesy smiled.

“Anyway, we might never see her again.”

“You might.” Parv said.

“Teasing makes my head hurt.” He moped.

“Fine. We’ll change the subject.” Parv took a breath. “Beckii’s mum was a right bitch, wasn’t she.”

“Oh, yeah. Absolutely.” Nilesy nodded furiously.

“While I wouldn’t have said it like that, I think you’re right.” Sparkles said.

“Some parents are real shitty.” Ravs said.

“Or you know, at least to your face.” Nilesy said.

“I’m happy to have ones that aren’t.” Ravs continued. “Don’t know about you, Parv.”

He shrugged, realised Ravs couldn’t see him. “They’re pretty normal. Sure as hell don’t openly look down on people like Beckii’s wonderful mother did, though.”

“Bet your grandpa isn’t that bad either, Nilesy.” Ravs said. “Despite old people stereotypes.”

“Hah, no. Not at all.” Nilesy laughed. Then his expression became confused. “I, erm, I never told you about him.”

Ravs paused his walk and Sparkles almost bumped into him. It was dawning on him and Parv too, that Ravs knew more than he should about Nilesy.

“Uh.” Ravs said, turning around.

“You a secret stalker, mate?” Parv said lightly. “Nilesy might be flattered, you never know.”

“No.” Ravs laughed then, surprising them. “Nothing like that. Panda’s talked a lot about you, that’s all.”

“Oh, right.” Nilesy’s face was still without a reassured smile. It looked hurt, even. Sparkles head was filled with such intense spikes of pain his vision started filling with spots. He tried not to physically react, though it took most of what he had.

“Is it a sensitive subject?” Ravs sounded apologetic. “I’m sorry. Uh, all he mentioned was you lived with your grandfather, that’s all.”

“It’s fine.” Nilesy said.

Sparkles, on the other hand, was not.

**_F̕or ҉a mo͏me̡n͝t͜, th͝ere ̛wa҉s…̢_ **

**_N̶il̵esy ̢as͏ ̵a b̛o̷y,͝ s̷itti̧n͢g ̴a͠l̨o̡n͠e i͜n̷ ̸a̸ ҉g̷a̕r͞deņ. ͟I̡n̴ ̸h̸i̡s̴ h͞and͞ ̡wa͢s a ̴b͜a͏ll͠ o҉f ̷wat̵e͜r,̛ t̵h̡e l̶igh̴t͝ re҉f͡r͟acting̨ ̢thŗough͝ ͘it. He t̵o̢s̴s̷ed͟ i͡t be̸tween̶ h̕i͢s h͏ands ̸w̕i̷th a̴ g̡ri̧n ͜on̛ his face.̧ ̧T̡h͟e͜re͡ ͡was a̷n̢ old man ̸c̛om̴in͠g ̸o̡ut o͢f the̛ o̸pen ̴pa͞t̢io d̕oors of ̧a̴ ͘şm͘a̶l͝l̡ ̷h̢ơuse̕_ **

Nilesy’s current house

**_̶wi̢t͟h a͞ mo͝ros͡e expr̕essio͝n͝ ̧on҉ h̴is ̨f̨ac͝e. ͏H̕e̷ ope͢ned̴ hi̕s ͠mou̡th ̛to̵ spea̕k͡.̷_ **

But Sparkles reactively hit his forehead with his palm to prevent any more of that. He looked up and realised the others were all staring at him.

“Hey, buddy.” Parv said cautiously. “You know, pain probably won’t help pain.”

“We need to speed this thing the fuck up.” He said, teeth gritted. “Or we’re going to have another Leavers situation.”

“Fuck that.” Nilesy said.

“Ok, well.” Ravs turned around again and started walking. “Beckii was right about it being in the opposite building.”

“Then, let’s go.” Parv said. “Chop chop.”

“What’s meant by the Leavers thing, by the way?”

“I don’t know if you’re high enough a friendship level to unlock that information.” Nilesy said.

“He got a migraine so bad he fainted after shaking Mr Mayor’s hand.” Parv said momentarily after.

“Wow.” Sparkles sighed.

“Shit, dude.” Ravs sounded concerned. “That sounds bad.”

“It was.”

“How’d you recover from that?”

“I felt better after I came to.”

“Is this medicine really going to work?” Parv asked.

“What do you mean?” Nilesy frowned.

Sparkles swallowed. “Why wouldn’t it?”

“Because,” Parv began seriously. “Didn’t you take medicine before we went the Assembly and _still_ pass out?”

“Um, well.” Sparkles huffed out a laugh. His brain was prickly to use. “Let’s not think too hard about that. Especially me, right now.”

There were fewer people in the building they entered, a smaller block, mainly filled with offices, according to the signs posted on the walls. There were a few pieces of paper blue tacked to the wall in front of them as they walked in, pointing out directions and times to things like a Studying Abroad talks. There was a small scattering of people about, looking at displays and speaking quietly among themselves.

Ravs stood with his hands on his hips. “Step 1: Complete. Now onto step 2.”

“Find the infirmary.” Nilesy finished.

 _“Ex_ actly, friend.”

There was a map of the block printed on the wall which they all gathered around and squinted at, like people around a baby. Sparkles didn’t squint, it made his vision swim.

“Along, that corridor.” Nilesy pointed. “And up the stairs.”

“That sounds suspiciously like a maths term thing.” Sparkles groaned. “No escape.”

“Was it graphs?” Ravs shrugged. “Wasn’t it Leo out of all of you wanting to carry on with that at Uni?”

“And Kogie is studying it for one of his A Levels.” Parv said, already straightening up. “But we have no such time for _maths.”_

“This way.” Nilesy said, strutting in the direction of the infirmary. “I want to lead for once.”

“So demanding.” Parv smirked.

Sparkles gently elbowed him. Parv winked back, linking their arms.

“And you, so jealous.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” He said stiffly. “Just, keep in mind how Panda would feel.”

Parv licked his lips. “Noted and understood.”

Sparkles was satisfied with that. Parv was aware of certain lines he couldn’t cross, even if one of them had to gently remind him of them.

When they stood in front of the door with the name card ‘Infirmary’, they, namely Sparkles, were struck with doubt.

“Are you sure we can waltz right in and ask for drugs when we don’t even go here yet?” He asked.

“One way to find out.” Parv said. He coughed once, cracked his knuckles, and knocked on the door.

“It’s open.” A voice called from inside.

“Here’s goes nothing.” Ravs said.

“Hey. I knocked, I’m opening the door.” Parv said quietly, giving Ravs a pointed look.

He opened the door and stepped in. Ravs started to follow and beckoned with his head for Sparkles to follow. Nilesy indicated he should go before him with a hand, so he took the hint and entered. The floor was linoleum, the walls painted a calm blue. There were two desks at the front of the room, a long sofa and an examination table in the back. A touchpad locked door was on the opposite wall, likely a medicine store cupboard. A few other small cupboards and shelves were placed around the room, as well as no less than six chairs, one occupied by a woman seated at one of the desks. Her short hair was blonde with grey streaks, and she was wearing a turtleneck jumper and trousers. She blinked at them through thick lensed glasses.

“You’re not here to ask about the facilities, are you?”

“No.” Ravs explained. “More to use them.”

She raised a sceptical eyebrow. “You’re here for the Applicant Day, aren’t you?”

“Yes, we are.” Nilesy.

“So, could you be possibly messing me around for a prank, boys? Or is this really genuine? It’s no emergency; I don’t see any broken limbs.”

“My friend here-” Ravs began.

“Can speak for himself, Ravsy.” Parv interjected.

This was his cue. Typically, this would be the moment where the pain flared up particularly painfully, but it stayed as a slight insistent pounding. He took a step forward and tried a smile.

“Hi, uh.”

“What are you after?” She replied.

“I’m Sparkles. I get bad headaches and migraines. Head pain that makes thinking hard. Anyway, I usually have some paracetamol or the like on hand, but when I checked my bag earlier, the stuff I packed wasn’t in my bag.”

“And now you’ve got some serious pain coming on, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Can I test your temperature? Not that your words are untrustworthy, but it’ll give me peace of mind.”

He moved towards her. “Sure.”

She stood up from her chair. She was about the same height as him, which meant he had to look her in the eyes while she put her hand against his forehead. He could only imagine the fever he had going from his head playing up. She took her hand away after only a few seconds.

“Hoo boy. Yeah, you’ve got a furnace going inside your skull by the feel of it.”

“So, can you give me something that’ll help me get through the day?” He asked hopefully.

“Well, since it’s something that minor, yeah.” She reached into a drawer on her desk and took out a box of the same brand of headache tablets he had at home. “Something like this, yeah?”

“Yes, please.”

“I’ll give you two.” She walked to a sink and grabbed a mug, squinted at the inside, and started filling it with water. “This is clean, for the record. This alright?”

“Yeah.” He said, taking the mug and the pills. “Thanks, Doctor…?”

He downed the pills and swallowed the water.

“Oh, right, yes. Doctor Pentis.”

“Thanks.” He said. He managed to smile for her.

“If you and your friends are done here, Sparkles. I have some boring paperwork to be getting on with. And I expect you guys still have a full day of talks to go to.”

Parv checked for the time on his phone. “Oh shit.” He looked up at Doctor Pentis as if he was about to be reprimanded. She waved a dismissive hand. He continued. “We got a place to be, Sparks.”

“Thanks for your time, Doctor.” Ravs said, holding the door open as Nilesy withdrew.

“I’d say see you all later, but that insinuates you’ll have something else wrong with you.” She said. “Please make sure the door is completely shut behind you.”

Sparkles handed the mug to her and walked out. He swallowed, tested his head. No change yet, but judging by how the two visions he’d had that day had been of either Ravs or Nilesy, getting away from them would be just as beneficial as the medicine.

“Are you guys coming to the Physics talk too, or?” Parv asked. “Because we’ve really got to go.”

“I think.” Nilesy looked over at Ravs. “We’re gonna find somewhere for us all to eat lunch at.”

“Yeah. I’d like some time to get to know my Scottish brother from another mother here.”

“And father.” Nilesy added.

“And father.” Ravs nodded smiling.

“Catch you suckers later then.” Parv said. He turned to Sparkles. “Chop chop, motherfucker.”

“If you do a Leo one more god damn time.” Sparkles growled.

“I’ll save the clapping for the end of the talk.” He began walking towards the entrance.

Sparkles waved goodbye to Ravs and Nilesy, who waved back as they took out a campus map. He kept up with Parv as they quickly retraced their steps and strode out of the building.

“If it’s alright with you, no talk, just walk.” Parv said. “It’ll help your head and we’ll move faster.”

“Sounds good, Parv.” He gave him the thumbs up. “So long as you know where we’re going.”

“That way.” He pointed. “Bebop Block.”

“Got it.”

They walked past other visitors, trees with the tiniest of buds appearing on them, arcing upwards like jagged limbs, as they speedily wandered their way to where they needed to go, following the signposts. The sun was dim in the grey sky, the ground still wet from yesterday’s rainfall.

Sparkles looked around, passing the time by taking in the little details. The birds roosting on the rooftops, the empty grass plot between two bushes where something or someone had trodden through for enough years to make a path, a plastic bottle, wedged in the ornate top of a lamppost. That Parv’s shoelaces weren’t tied tight enough and the ends were trailing along the wet ground and looking rather soggy and filthy.

He wondered if he could find it in himself to think of this University as a home in the future. Somewhere he could find himself, or whatever cliches usually suggested when you reached this level of adultness. Course abiding, he hoped he could enjoy it all. His Talk wouldn’t be until later, but he had a positive feeling the Professors would be nice enough as well.

In no time, they were within Bebop Block, an incredibly large building with too many doors and stairs to climb. They passed many people on their way, parents and students looking as lost as Sparkles was starting to feel, a few professors and students of the Uni that looked slightly put off by encountering outsiders. Sparkles had to swallow down the urge to ask them if they were going to same way as they were.

They had been walking around one particular floor for about five minutes, Sparkles concerned that the corridor was looking very familiar now, by the time he worked up the courage to talk to Parv. “Parv, mate?”

His mouth was an unmoving line, he had been sighing a lot. His shoelaces dragged behind him, clacking against the thin carpet. His expression was one of angry frustration and as he turned to look at Sparkles he flinched instinctively. Parv swallowed, moved his jaw. He expression turned softer as he stopped walking.

“Yes.”

Sparkles tried to say something but his courage finally fled him.

“I…”

Parv sighed.

“Yeah, we’re fucking lost, Sparkles. Happy?”

“Not really no.” He answered quietly.

“I’m sorry, man. I’m not angry at you, I’m angry at this stupid maze of a block.”

“It is rather stupid, isn’t it?”

Sparkles jumped, barely keeping a screech from emerging from his lips. Parv was less lucky and yelped in surprise. Both looked nervously behind them, where a man in a lab coat was leaning out of a door. His hair was a dark brown, skin tan, his eyes a piercing blue despite being behind a pair of safety goggles. He smiled sheepishly.

“Oh, I’m sorry I scared you. I forget not everybody’s hyper vigilant about what’s around them, ha.”

The man leaning in the doorway was tall, taller than both of them. Sparkles and Parv shared a look, though neither took any more steps back. He waved his hand nonchalantly and then ruffled his hair with it.

“I’m Xephos. I work here, in the labs. As a scientist guy.”

“Yes.” Sparkles said. “The lab coat you’re wearing did give it away.”

Xephos looked at himself then up again.

“Yeah. Yeah. Well, anyway. You’re Applicant Day visitors.”

“Yep.” Parv said.

Sparkles gave him a pointed look. Parv gave him one back.

“We actually have to get to the Physics Talk pretty sharpish.”

Sparkles was surprised to see a glimmer appear in Xephos’ eyes. He removed his goggles and tossed them back in the room behind the door. There was a loud clack as they skidded off a surface and brought other things down to the floor with them.

“Say no more.”

There was a final bang as what sounded like a brick hit the floor.

“And don’t worry about that.”

“You’re giving us directions?” Sparkles asked with relief and a little concern.

“Nah, I’ll take you there. You’re more likely to find the room that way.”

“How do you know where the room is?” Parv frowned.

“Because.” Said Xephos, closing the door behind him. “I’m close to the Physics Professor.” He pointed at the corridor behind them and they stepped aside as he walked past them. “This way, boys.”

Close? Sparkles mouthed at Parv. Parv only wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

They walked just behind Xephos as they wound their down corridors and a set of stairs. All the way there their guide kept on chatting, seemingly unable to leave silence over their trip.

“I was thinking of listening to her talk anyway. I’m very bad at time keeping and all that. Sometimes I get so engrossed with checking over everything in the lab that by the time Professor Lomadia and our friend Honeydew come to the lab at the end of the day, I realise I’ve missed lunch and eaten nothing since my morning slices of toast.”

“Have you worked here long?” Sparkles politely asked.

“Hm, let me think.” Xephos reached into his pocket and drew out a laminated card attached to a lanyard. He squinted at it and then shrugged. “About five years, give or take. I got a degree here after settling down and never felt an impulse to leave. I ‘found my calling’ as they say.”

“Your calling was working as a lab assistant in an University?” Parv questioned, disbelief in his tone.

Xephos fixed him with a surprisingly steely look but then eased his expression into a small smile. “That and other things. I find what I do is a noble act, helping others in their education and research. It doesn’t matter so much to me it goes widely underappreciated.”

“Well, you seem happy.” Sparkles said, trying to keep this pleasant. He shot Parv a warning look.

“Oh, very.” Xephos grinned. “I’m having the time of my life…”

“Sparkles.” He said.

“And I’m Parv.”

“And is it both of you interested in the Physics talk or only one of you?”

“Only me.” Parv said. “Sparkles is more into the Arts.”

“What, all of them?” Xephos raised his eyebrows mischeviously. “My, aren’t you skilled?”

“No, no. I’m getting a degree in Music.” Sparkles found himself beginning to flush a little from the concentrated attention from Xephos. “It’s what I’m good at, so. It’s what I’m going for.”

“That’s your calling.” Xephos said. “Your music.”

Sparkles felt the slightest of lumps in his throat. For a moment he heard the faint humming notes he’d heard during his first sighting of Cassandra, before he shook himself, feeling the headache fight against the medicine.

“In a manner of speaking.” Sparkles said. “I’m not sure what comes after though.”

“Well, if you’re any good.” Xephos said with a smile. “I’d say release your music and get a fanbase going.”

“Well, we are in a band together.” Parv said.

“Just you two?”

“And two others. Sparkles just the seriously gifted musician out of all of us.”

“What do you play, Parv? Because I took acoustic guitar lessons years and years ago. It reminds me, Lomadia found my old guitar in the loft the other day when we were clearing out our office.”

As Parv got back into the flow of easy conversation, enthusiastic  to be talking with someone who was equally as charming to interact with, Sparkles silently walked along beside them. There was something about the labyrinth layout of Bebop Block that felt off to him. He was sure buildings were supposed to be built to be functional, instead of a confusing jumble of offices and labs. If even the Professors disliked the layout, why had someone not remarked about it during the planning process?

Back on the ground floor again, Sparkles began hearing the sound of people again. Specifically, the sound one lone voice speaking to others. It was muffled, as if through a door, but it made him feel better to know they were finally close to their destination.

“Here we are. Professor Lomadia’s Room. She teaches Aeronautics as well, did you know?”

“No.” Sparkles said. “She sounds pretty intelligent.”

“Oh, she’s pretty and intelligent.” Xephos grinned. He stopped, pulled a face. “Wait, she told me not to say things like that in front of students.” He looked at them both.

Sparkles shared another look with Parv. “You just confirmed she was very clever Professor Xephos, that’s all.”

Xephos full out laughed. The volume surprised Sparkles and he rapidly blinked.

“I’m not a proper Professor, dear boy. Just a lab assistant. But it’s very sweet of you. That was a good laugh you gave me, a good one. Ha.”

“Are we late?” Parv asked, his priorities straight, the only thing about him that was.

“Well, shit.” Xephos said, turning around. “Maybe so, but at least we’re here.” He knocked on the door and then whispered to them with a wink. “You didn’t hear me cuss either.”

Before they could reply, the door was opened by a woman with long golden hair which fell to her shoulder blades and a stern expression. She eyed Xephos and then looked at Sparkles and Parv, expression softening.

“Yes, Xephos?” She said sweetly. “Here for help with your tie?”

He looked down at it, unattached it with the sound of ripping Velcro, and then with a sweet smile on his own face said, “A few lost lambs for your flock in fact, my dear.”

“Oh, how kind you are.” She said, stepping back into the room and holding the door open. “This block is a mess.” She said to them. “And I’ve barely said the introductions, so you’re both just fine. There’s seats near the back.”

Parv walked in first, Sparkles following behind so that there were fewer eyes on him. There wear pew like seats that went up a few tiers, like seating in a stadium, and so he and Parv, with Xephos close behind, climbed up the steps in search of empty places. He could feel the stares from everybody already seated, and didn’t feel less embarrassed until Professor Lomadia had started speaking again and he could hide between his two tall companions.

Professor Lomadia was fairly tall, the tiniest bit more than his mother, he thought. She wore a blue shirt and tie, black trousers, and shiny black shoes that clacked against the floor with each step she took as she paced around the front of the room and talked. Her eyes were the lightest brown he had ever seen, almost yellow. A golden lady, he thought.

_**Or** _

Or?

**_Tawny_ **

Sparkles put a thumb in his mouth and bit down hard enough that pain stabbed into his brain. He concentrated on those spikes of feeling to avoid the rest of the talk. He didn’t want to accidentally see something.

“Sparkles?”

He looked at Parv, jerked out of his ritual.

“Talk’s over, Sparks. You can disassociate over lunch in a bit.”

“Oh, thanks.” He croaked. He cleared his throat. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

They stood up and followed everybody else in the room to the exit. Right at the last moment though, Parv pulled him away from the door so that they were stood in front of lab Assistant Xephos and Professor Lomadia. They looked expectantly at them both, as if eagerly wanting them to leave with the rest of the rabble.

“Sorry to loiter, Professor.” Parv said. “Just wanted to say I am really _quite_ looking forward to next year.”

“That’s wonderful to hear, uhm, what was your name?”

“Alex Parvis.” He said with a smile.

“Alex. Well, judging by your questions about the lesson plan, you will certainly be an intriguing student to teach.”

Sparkles felt a little miffed he’d missed out on Parv’s contribution, though he suspected it was nothing but more charming words to get the Professor on his side as early as possible.

"The last students you called intriguing were the HAT boys." Xephos said quietly.

Lomadia shook her head at him. "They're gone from here at least, and you know they'll get what's coming for them."

"I'm sorry, we sound like we're planning a murder. They're dangerous scientists, and also have several warrants for their arrest."

"Nothing big then." Parv laughed.

Sparkles stood awkwardly beside Parv with a polite smile on his face and glanced up at Xephos. He knew the Lab Assistant better than the Professor, at least. He noticed Sparkles looking and winked again.

**_A͝nd̡ hi̕s ̧ri͜g͘ht eye w͜as̕ ̵red͏. H̢i̸s ͘f̸a̕c̵ia͝l h̵air͠ was ̢ro͢u͟g͠h̡er ̕hi̴s şk͝i͟n̛ t͢o̸r͟n͡ by͏ sc͜ar͟s͢ ̵an̡d͞ t͡wis̷ted in a͟n͢ ͜u͞gl͞y̨ gr͡im͞ace wh͢ic͡h͞ was in ҉fac͢t a w͘i҉c͜ke̵d͞ ̸gr͠i̶n.̡ W̡ind͜ buffet͝e͘d͜ h҉is͡ h̵ai̢r̡ ͘a͟nd ̨s͢an͡d flew̡ a̡roun͟d i̷n͝ t͏he h̷ow͢ling wind ͞Hi̧s ̨r͡ed ͝j̴a͏cke͟t͢ ̛l̡oo͝ke͡d ͝m͞ore l̵i͘ke ̶a̷ ̨dr͞a̷m͝a̡t̵i̶c͏ ͜cl͝o̴ak fro̸m͡ ͏t̛he̛ ̕wa͡y҉ ̷i͜t̶ ̸b͏l̛ew̴ ̢out b̴ehind h͜i̕m.͏ Aļl ̡a̷r͡oun͢d ҉hi͡m was̛ gi͠ant ͞rol̢l͠i̷n̕g͘ ̧h͜il̕l̡s of sa̢nd̢ ͟mou͞n̨ta͟i͠n͘s̵ a̢nd̴ ̧va̢l͏le̶y̛s̸ fo͡rmi̴n̢g o̶ne͘ s̢eco̕nd̛ a͘nd ̴t̛h͏en ͝cras͏hing͞ in̛t҉o ͟n̶e̶w ͢posi҉tion̷s t̵he nex͡t͠. ͝It wa̴s b̢u͝il̷din҉g ͠u͠p͘ al̕l̶ a̢r̡o͝ưn͜d ͜h̵i͘m̨ ҉it̶ ̶w͡a҉s͞ m̛o͞vi͟n̕g ̶wi̡t͘h͘ purpos̛e͟.̛ In̷ ̶th̨e ̨d͟i̡st̛an͘c͞e͡ ̡w̶as̨ ͜a̧ m҉a͝s̵si͘ve w͢a͜l̛l̵ ҉of con̷cr͜ete a̴n̸d̕ ̛titani͏u͜m͜, ̵a͟nd̕ ̧man̛y͏ ̡oth̴er ҉to̢ug̵h̶ mat̕e̛rials҉.̨ H͏e sto͝od a̷t̶ t̡h̴e̴ ͡top͞ ̸o͘f a lon̛e ̵sp͠ir͡al ͢s͢t͜air̡c̛a͜se҉ wa̶tch̷in͡g ̛as̸ ̷tḩe̵ f͠i̛r͢s̸t ͝w͜av͢e o̶f s͘a͟nd͏ ҉t͡ơw͞e̢red͘ ̕mi͜l͟e̷s abo͡v̕e̢ ̧t͘he͠ wall̨ ̶and ̢as̨ ͠th͞e̵ s̨cr҉e̸a͝ms began hi̶s g̡rin ͢wi̶d͢e̢ned͞.͟_ **

And after all the progress the medicine had made he was once again back to square one. He tried to hide his vision by pretending he had very intensely sneezed, turning away from the others as his mind screamed in protest of power exertion. He sucked in air through his teeth and tried to play it off as if he was recovering from having a reeling mind, which it in fact was, in a way.

“Oh, that was intense.” He said through gritted teeth. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Bless you.” Professor Lomadia said calmly. “That did look intense. Did you inhale a lung full of dust back there?”

“I must have.” Sparkles forced himself to chuckle.

“I’ll have to do some dusting when I get a moment then.” She said thoughtfully, putting a finger on her lip. “I trust myself more than the cleaners they employ here.”

“Yeah.” Xephos agreed, though he seemed a little distracted by Sparkles’ reaction to his wink. “Got that in the labs as well.”

“I, um.” Sparkles rubbed his face, feeling the returns of twinges he’d hoped would take a few more hours to reappear. “I think I’ll be alright. I don’t think it’s an allergy to any of you, at least.”

“Don’t you have an allergy to anything romantic, Sparkles.” Parv said wryly.

Xephos looked very alarmed.

“No.” Sparkles said aghast. “That’s something completely different. Seriously? I just sneezed.”

“Do you need a tissue?” Professor Lomadia was indicating the pack of tissues on her desk.

He shook his head, wincing internally but doing his best to hide it.

“I’m good.”

“Anyway.” Parv said. “It’s been a pleasure, Professor.”

“Thank you for coming, Alex.” She smiled. “If only all my students had your enthusiasm. You’re the reason I love my job.”

“Are you getting lunch now?” Xephos asked. “Do you need a recommendation?”

“Nah thanks.” Parv said. “We’ve got others sitting on a table for us somewhere. We’ll just go find them.”

“Alright then.” Xephos said. He eyed Sparkles, who gave him the best smile he could manage, which was very slight. “Be safe, you two.”

“Thank you for getting us to the room again, Mr Xephos.” Sparkles said. “You saved our skin.”

“Any time for decent people like you boys.” Xephos smiled.

“We’ll leave you to your own lunch, then.” Parv said. “See ya whenever.”

“Goodbye.” Professor Lomadia said. “And be safe.”

The term, which Xephos had also used, stuck with Sparkles as they walked away. They seemed to have some context he didn’t. Maybe, as his head throbbed to the beat of his heart, they had sensed his migraine returning once again.

As they walked towards the noise of people they found the exit a lot more easily than they had found Professor Lomadia’s room. Sparkles hesitated at the door, feeling a sudden wave of nausea rise up in his throat. That was a new symptom. Parv turned, gave him a concerned once over.

“You alright, mate?”

“Eh.” Sparkles replied, waving a hand around. “I think I need the toilet.”

Parv looked behind him. “Well, it’s your lucky day, pal. It’s just back there.”

“Wait.” Sparkles said, gathering his thoughts. “Wait.”

“I’m waiting.”

“Do we know where the others are going to be?”

Parv glanced behind him and took out his phone. He checked his screen for a few seconds then looked back up again. He pointed out through the glass windows either side of the door at a café the other side of the green.

“Right there, Sparkles. Do you want me to wait for you?”

Sparkles shook his head. It was hard nausea, not the kind that felt like he was going to throw up, just the kind that meant he needed to sit down and breathe for a while. He didn’t want Parv or anyone else to see him like this.

“Go ahead. I’ll be a few minutes.”

Parv bade his goodbyes and left the block, Sparkles turning back to follow the signs down the corridor towards the toilets. It was then he realised Parv hadn’t made a joke throughout that whole conversation. His friend was getting very worried. He had every reason to be though.

Sparkles’ head felt like a Samba party was building up to a crescendo in his head, increasing with each step. As the voices started fading behind him, he momentarily felt his vision swim. His mind, as if detached from his body, could only form the brief amusement from wondering if anyone else was seeing him swoon against the wall.

He held his eyes closed and breathed steadily, resting his forehead against the cool painted brick. Composure was as far away from him as reaching the moon was.

He wasn’t sure how long he leaned there, probably only a minute, though time was certainly just a construct in his lone vacuum of pain. He was suddenly stirred out of his comatose mind space by a sudden peal of laughter that came with a door swinging open a little further up the corridor. He forcefully pushed himself to his feet and blinked his vision into something that worked.

Several doors down, three Uni students had exited into the corridor. They had come out facing him, and while the laughing had continued until his sight had cleared, they had stopped all semblance of their conversation when they caught sight of him standing there. He couldn’t imagine what they saw.

Two were women, both shorter than average. One carried a large rucksack, her dark hair with dyed purple streaks tied in a high ponytail. She wore jeans and a shirt with a Studio Ghibli character on it, sneakers looking as fake a brand as Parv’s did. The other woman had bright red hair, natural as the dusting of freckles on her smiling face. She wore a plaid shirt and leggings under a skirt, her own sneakers looking more of a designer brand. The last person was a tall man who towered other his two shorter companions. In a zip up hoodie and a pair of rough looking jeans was the shaggy blond figure of someone who seemed vaguely familiar to Sparkles.

“Sparkles?” Exclaimed the familiar man.

There was a beat where he was still trying to recognise the voice.

“You’re taller. And still awkward looking.”

And just like that it clicked.

“Lalna.” Sparkles said with as much of a smile as he could muster considering he had mixed emotions about him. “I could say the same thing, on both counts.”

Lalna snorted and folded his arms. “So, what are you doing here?”

“Lalna!” The woman with dyed purple streaks said with exasperation. “You’re not just dumb but also really rude!”

Lalna blushed, turned to the other woman. She nodded and pulled a face at him. “Uh, sorry, then.”

Sparkles’ head was still not on a good state, though he was sure he could hold it together a little longer.

“Well, to answer your question, I’m here at the Uni for the Applicant Day. I’m also here in this building in particular for its toilet facilities.”

“You look really not good, friend.” The red head said. She looked worried and then put a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, that’s a little rude too, isn’t it? Uh, I’m trying to kindly ask if you’re alright, uh, Sparkles?”

He forced a laugh, his head throbbing but allowing him the small mercy of not passing out. “I just got a bad head at the moment and I want to get the better of it in private, if you get what I mean.”

“It’s just down there.” The woman with purple streaks pointed. “I’m Nano, by the way. That’s Zoey. And you already know Lalna.”

“Do you have any pills?” Zoey asked.

“Yeah, in my bag.” Sparkles lied. “I was worried about today so I came prepared.”

“I hope your day gets better, Sparkles.” Lalna said somewhat quietly. He was looking to the side of Sparkles rather than right at him. “You’re not in our year so we won’t actually see you around, but…”

“It was good to see you again, anyway.” Sparkles said. “I hope you keep on, doing alright? I guess.”

“Yeah.” Lalna said. He, Zoey, and Nano began making their way past Sparkles.

“Nice to meet you.” Zoey said enthusiastically. “Hope your head gets better.”

“Yeah.” Nano agreed. “Hopefully you have some peeps looking out for you.”

“Don’t worry.” Sparkles said, walking backwards and giving them a timid wave. “They waiting on me nearby. Thanks and, bye, guys.”

He walked away, smile fading as their footsteps faded away down the other side of the corridor. He could hear them whispering even through the thud of his pulse. He wondered if it was about him.

He hadn’t ever perceived Lalna as the sort of person to attract friends due to his obtuse nature, though he was sure Lalna would be into discussing people behind their backs.

He pushed his way into the bathroom and stood for a long while. There was the faintly disgusting smell of public toilets, though unlike the urinals and sinks oh his school there wasn’t blockages or trash left in stupid places. He looked in the mirror once, saw the shadows under his eyes that failed to disappear after he tried a smile.

He wasn’t particularly sure about what the sensation of being stabbed repeatedly in the head felt like, but he could hazard a guess. The white spots returned to his vision and even though he clutched at the sink and gritted his teeth, he could feel his mind lean towards an unconscious state. He stumbled over to the window and pushed it open. He splashed cold water all over his face and stood by the window, concentrating on the chill of the wind on his skin.

He opened his eyes after he realised the pain wasn’t improving and for a moment saw something out the window that didn’t quite make sense. The window looked out on a collection of large bins, apparently where most of the rubbish on the campus was collected for disposal. Except one bin, lid was thrown open, and on their tiptoes, a hoodie cloaked figure was rummaging around. He watched them pull out the remains of a coffee cup from the local coffee shop, sniff it, then take off the cap and drink the cold remains of its contents. And the skin on one of their hands had patches of purple.

“What the fuck?” Sparkles said.

He didn't think he'd said it out loud, and yet the figure whipped around and saw him. Half their face was also purple, jaw misshapen, and one eye large and glowing. They looked monstrous, but what features were human, seemed young.

He blinked, and the figure was gone. The bin remained open, several strange lights flickered briefly where the figure was, but other than that, nothing.

Sparkles’ head _hurt._ He grimly considered his new symptom of hallucinations before everything went dark for a while.

He came back to himself as he was stumbling back down the corridor towards the entrance, the world tipping and twisting around him.

He hadn’t even realised he’d blacked out again until he found himself standing by the entrance and began slowly moving towards his friends. He thought he heard the voices of his friends nearby, though his vision swam so much he couldn’t see them. His head was splitting apart at the seams He felt like steam was escaping from it and was scorching his flesh.

He stopped walking and swayed.

He thought he heard the voices of his friends again, maybe nearer, maybe further. He didn’t want them to worry about him.

The more he listened, unable to move, the more the noise sounded like screaming. The ground loomed up to meet him as his body gave up on his mind, and when the darkness swallowed him whole, Sparkles could only hear a scream. The same scream he had dreamt of months ago, when the Echoplane fell. The scream of a Universe, and Cassandra’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I died for like more than half a year, but now I'm back. I had this mostly done in April, guys, I am so sorry. The good news is I've got into a Creative Writing Uni course so will now have to write a bunch. A lot of my concerns were about getting into my 1st choice but now that's resolved I feel a lot more motivated.  
> Anyway, story things.  
> This is the longest chapter written so far. It's so much, I'm cringing. This is alomost half of the word count for Part 1. Poor Sparkles doesn't want to see the future, bless him. Part 2 is going to chronicle the 3 ways in which Sparkles tries to cope with his powers, and as he learns, ignoring it is not going to work. Even though this chapter was a little difficult because it was so huge, I did love working out ways to fit in cameos. Sparkles is finally seeing people, ain't that neat. A reminder, however, that he can see into Parallel Dimensions other than the one he's in. In fact, A Trainwreck Elsewhere's final scene takes place within the time skip that occurs between the Counsellor talk with Ms Eld and the Applicant Day.  
> I reckon the next chapter will be shorter, though my concept of chapters around 10000 words is thoroughly scrapped. Until then.


	5. Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparkles has reached a new low, tired of his powers and his frustrating life. Ignoring his visions only made them worse, but he knows there are other ways he can deal with them that being sent to hospital really contribute to. An adult at last, he now gets to view the world in a very different way than before, and there are new painful truths to be learnt.

Sparkles could hear screaming again. A wail, waning and so high pitched and loud. It wasn’t the Universe. It wasn’t Cassandra. It wasn’t at him.

There were other noises. There were people’s voices. If there was a meaning to what they were saying, he couldn’t understand it.  His head felt like candyfloss was being spun around and around inside of it. In front of his eyes white spots clouded his vision.

It felt like he was dreaming, he reckoned - it was all he could fathom. Except for the fact his dreams did not have the soft edges and lack of sense that he was experiencing. His eyes saw things, blurred shapes and hues that his brain couldn’t conceive a meaning for. There were other noises apart from the loud wail, definite voices speaking. He couldn’t discern gender or words, but he was now clear that these people talking near him were not a figment of his imagination.

His limbs wouldn’t move, his eyes, despite being wide open, refused to see meaning. He thought he felt something touch him, a pressure different from the surface beneath him he could lightly feel. The voices were still saying things, perhaps a little louder now. He could only blink and feel the fluff that had replaced his mind start to withdraw from these sensations again.

It was so strange, when the darkness peeled away the edges of his blurred vison, that as the sound resonated around him into incomprehensible echoes, he thought there was something behind it all. There was a female voice. A scream, after all. Then there was only Void, sweet in its embrace compared to the pain of consciousness and the living world.

*

When he came to, things were very white. The light burned his eyes, even through the confused squint of his lashes. He was lying down again, on his back. There weren’t the blurs of people around him anymore, though, unlike…

Unlike earlier.

It bloomed gradually in his mind like a shameful weedy flower, the total awfulness that had befallen his life since the Applicant Day. The bathroom trip that had ended in disaster. The hazy memory of the voices and head pain as he passed in and out of consciousness in a vehicle. An ambulance, most likely.

Despite the light, his body felt numb and cold, his mind woefully going over each excruciating detail as goose bumps rose on his arm. He hadn’t realised he was crying until a short whine forced itself up his throat at the thought of missing his Music Course talk. Instantly followed by guilt for ruining his friends’ day, everyone’s day. Here he was, pitifully being sad about missing the talk, all while Leo, Parv, Kogie, and the others they’d befriended that day had been forced to deal with his pathetic shit.

He thought he’d had a better hand on this. He thought he’d worked out how to avoid _seeing_ the mindfucking things. Of course, something would kick down the door of his mental safe room and proceed to scream in his face. Of course, it would be powered related.

It was with the same vague collection of external information that he’d had in the ambulance ride that he knew the lone person sat beside his hospital bed had stirred.

“Sparkles?” They spoke softly, a quaver to their voice. “You’re awake.”

His brain wanted to make a snide remark, but when his lips parted it was just a croak that came out. A sob that caught in the back of his throat as he tried to breathe.

“Oh, darling. My darling, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” They had shifted their chair closer so that they could take his hand. “I’m just glad you’re, you’re ok. You’re – ok?”

Their words choked off from a sob of their own. And as his eyes focussed on the face of his companion, dark shadows and flushed cheeks, his brain finally caught up with his _knowing_ and he recognised his own tortured mother.

It took them both a minute to collect themselves, but as Sparkles looked over his mother’s shoulder rather than at her face he knew he had to say something.

“I’m not ok.” He said softly. “But it’s, it’s, it’s not. I…” He swallowed and closed his eyes to rein in the aggressive self-loathing that came from seeing how he’d made his mother. “It’s not your fault I’m like this.”

“Sparkles.” She whispered, holding his hands and running her fingers over him in a soothing gesture. “Leo called me, he and the others were, were - and I was so scared. Oh, Sparkles, Sparkles, I-”

“Mum.” He said. “Please don’t blame yourself.” He thought he was going to break down again. This was too much to wake up to.

“What happened to you?” She said, releasing him from one of her hands so that she could wipe her face with a tissue. “Leo, he - he said you were having problems, but you didn’t seem so bad the last time I saw you, darling. Why did it get so bad? What triggered you to get worse?”

Sparkles sighed, almost choking from the impulse to start crying again. “I don’t know, but I want it to stop. I need an end. I need to get better.”

*

His father had once told him that the hardest part of improvement was admitting you had a problem. It would be more difficult the closer you got to the breaking point, the options fewer. He’d thought that the meeting with Kush was the breaking point: the realisation he wasn’t making up his powers. Now he knew that that had been too soft a milestone in his life to be the breaking point. This was the time where he had to decide whether to fall apart, or somehow salvage himself, for the good of his mother and friends. And himself, as an afterthought. But his options had always been scarcer than emerald ore and nowhere near as attractive.

As he let his mother sit with him and talk her worries and sob her reassurances, his mind was on where he could possibly go from here. There weren’t therapy groups for people with powers, and if he admitted he had real visions to a therapist he knew his life would be at a much greater risk than it already was. His powers may almost kill him, but there were many people who would definitely finish the job. He wanted his head back. He wanted progress.

From his hospital bed, with his hospital tag, with a hospital nurse and doctor already having visited to check on his wellbeing, the obvious route his train of thought was hurtling down was that hospital medication could help him. He hadn’t wanted it to come to the use of drugs just to get by, he knew that wasn’t a good way to live. But he couldn’t go on like this anymore, and at this point he would take what he could get.

Generally speaking, people did not look for magic or powers in people. For all its uses and purposes, here, in Minecraftia, it was not wanted. Sparkles knew, as he had acted so far, that with careful choice of words his powers could be interpreted as just some kind of mental illness. And mental illnesses had treatments.

He had woken up in the late afternoon after he’d passed out, the sun setting and bringing an end to part of his charade. The assessments of his physical health had reassured both his mother and the doctor who came see him that other than a couple of scrapes from his fall he was fine. The symptom of his painful headaches was noted, but due to it being absent for the time being it wasn’t a concern. X-rays of his insides, so foreignly intimate to him, taken while he was still unconscious, showed he was no different from any other normal teenager. They hadn’t worked out a way to screen for powers like that yet, though if any of the rumours he’d heard about rich exploitive people, like Mr William shithead Strife, were true, then it was being worked on.

It was with a mixture of repressed dread and gladness that he felt when he was finally told that there was a doctor here to talk about his mental health. This wasn’t something he could hide from anymore, and it was necessary for his mother to hear what he needed.

Relief, he thought, as he briefly stopped by the bathroom to psych himself up for the talk. He didn’t need to rehearse much for this. Relief was what he was feeling, for the first time in a while. Because this option had so conveniently fallen into his lap, given him the chance to explain away his problems. It was a numb relief, though. It was a partial feeling. Real feelings, the kind he didn’t have to dress up differently somehow, had not been expressed by him for many years.

The room a nurse led him and his mother to was another office, not unlike Ms Eld’s, he thought. It was so eerily similar he wondered if all people employed in some kind of counselling role shopped from the same place or were taught to have the same organisational standards.

“Sparkles.” The doctor said. “I’m Dr Soence. Please sit down.”

“Sure.” He said, finding a seat directly facing her. “This is my mum, by the way. She’s here to hear what you think, as well.”

“I don’t want to seem harsh.” She said. “But it may be better if you wait outside until the session is over, Ms Patreka.”

His mother said nothing but nodded a few times. She flashed him a quick smile and shut the door behind her, leaving them alone in the room.

“It’s been a rough for you, Sparkles.” She began. “But I’m sure only you realise just how rough.”

“What can you do to help me?” He asked, deciding to get to the point. “Do you think this will help me more than the blood tests?”

“That’s what I’m finding out.” She said. “I can share that we’ve got results back from all of your tests now, and you’re physically sound.”

“I guessed.”

She indicated him with a hand. “Tell me your troubles, Sparkles.”

“Oh.” He laughed. “Where to begin.”

He spent the next half hour telling her everything. He neglected describing his visions as part of his power, sharing his knowing, but it was otherwise easy to spill all the beans. It was somehow freeing to be so soul baring, to talk without fear.

The doctor looked seriously at him the whole time, gauging his actions, most likely. Sparkles wondered what she saw in him, the red-eyed, mentally ill teenage boy sat on an uncomfortable chair and in an even more uncomfortable situation.

What kind of others had she faced and witnessed vomit their lives out, sat in the same seat he was?

**_The hyper-sexual fuckboy with several girl’s pregnant and a host of STDs among them. The frustrated psychopathic loner doing her best to avoid becoming a cultural stereotype. The bored xenophobe who picked fights with anyone who minutely stuck out from his image of normal._ **

People like any other, but with a difference. They couldn’t cope.

“Hm.” Dr Soence said. “Teens have a hard time, but they usually don’t suffer with what you have.”

“And what have I got, then?”

The moment of truth. She placed the tablet she’d been looking at throughout his monologue on the table before them both.

“This is a database of illnesses and ailments.” She explained. “All that we know of them uploaded. When working out diagnoses that aren’t so straightforward we can put in the symptoms and we can narrow down what is actually going on.”

“Here is what I can do for you.” She said, finger scrolling through the diagnosis notes page on the tablet. “Keeping aware that these are all viable options to your extensive range of symptoms.”

Sparkles continued to keep his face neutral, even though the words he was hearing were making his heart sink. He could recognise he was being set up for something.

“At the time being offering you medication isn’t something we shouldn’t immediately do. Which isn’t what you want to hear, yes, but we’d like to be cautious.”

“What?” He swallowed nervously. “What will you offer me?”

“For a month we’d like you to keep a sleep diary.”

“Is that all?” He asked, barely keeping the desperation out of the whine.

“That month will tell us more about what you’re going through.” The doctor said. “That and the group therapy sessions that will allow you to talk with others with distressing nights. It will give us definitive proof that medication is the best way to prove your condition, because it isn’t psychosomatic. It will tell us exactly what kind of medication you need?”

“What kind?”

“Whether you need drugs to help you sleep.” She said. “Or antidepressants. Either way, we need to work out what will help you best.”

Sparkles sat back and looked away from her. He licked his lips and thought about how long a month was.

“Will I be given the medication I need as soon as I do that month?”

“We’ll be constantly updating our diagnosis through that time, finalising it for our next meeting in just over a months’ time.”

“Right.” He looked at her. “Tell me what I need to do.”

She gave him a new notebook and pen - perhaps knowing that students love freebies – and instructed him the details regarding the weekly meetups for the diary. Group therapy wasn’t where he had imagined himself ending up, but it was along the way to his new intended solution. There was something nice about doctors seeing he needed help, even if they were very cautiously unscrewing the cap to the pills.

After all he’d gone through, this wait, the cruellest thing his brain could imagine was none of the solutions would work for him.

His mother, still his rock, met him outside the office and listened carefully to the words of the doctor he repeated back to her. The timing, the prescription, the costs. She stopped him from talking about money, the elephant in the room weighing down on their shoulders. They hadn’t had to dip into healthcare after the death of his father, though he knew his mother was more vulnerable now in her age, so they had a savings account dedicated to emergencies. He didn’t want to know how much there was, but he trusted her judgment.

He faced his friends the next day, messaging them all in the hours after leaving the hospital up until they all came to his accommodation.

“Official doctor shit.” Parv said. “Well that’s something.”

“I used to think this was the worst thing that could happen to me.” Sparkles said, holding a glass of water in his two hands.

“Almost dying?” Leo asked grimly.

“Doctors.” He said. “Getting the idea in my head I need medication.”

“But this is good.” Leo said.

“Yes, but now everyone’s knows I have a problem. It’s on record I have issues. That’s the part of this I didn’t want.”

“You weren’t fooling anyone, mate.” Kogie said. “You haven’t been good in a while.”

“Maybe.” Sparkles said. “But now I’m doing something.”

“Do you think the sleep diary is going to be enough on its own.”

“Fuck no.” He shook his head. “Talking can only help me so far.”

“Don’t get addicted.” Parv warned. “When you get your drugs.”

“That’s the last thing I need.” He said. “More issues on my plate.”

*

It was one of the longest months of his life. The days that crawled by were dull and painful. He distracted himself from _seeing_ by being as busy as possible, though the work and revision he did were as rough to complete as the dream journal. His apocalypse dreams still occurred, but he couldn’t quite portray the horrific ugliness of the death and destruction he _saw._ His _knowing_ would slip in from time to time, but it was the equivalent of harmless trivia if it didn’t forcefully dig into it.

Kogie’s birthday came suddenly, days later, before the present he ordered him had even arrived. They went together to the Ice Cream shop, greeted by a polite Zylus as he served them. He carefully asked how Sparkles was doing, to which he gave a truthful answer. When they returned to Kogie’s house after having eaten the biggest sundaes they could stomach. It brought back bad memories that hindered his appetite, leaving Sparkles to eat considerably less pizza for dinner than he would have liked.

His own birthday was considerably less exciting, though until Parv had his own birthday he and his three closest friends couldn’t go out drink. It was a sweet day with them all, random _knowing_ aside. They stayed in his apartment all day and night, marathoning anime and indulging in sweets and chocolate. Nilesy and Panda came to this one, though Panda seemed especially tired throughout the night. Out of all of them it was him who crashed first, sleeping deeply in Nilesy’s arms.

“What’s that bruise there?” Parv has asked, pointing out a nasty looking patch of skin on his right arm.

“He said he fell down some stairs and banged against the wall.” Nilesy said with some fondness. “He’s a bit bruised all over, from what I could tell.”

“From what you could tell?” Parv said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Ah – yes.” He said, blushing slightly. “Just from his shirt riding up, and stuff.”

Parv snickered.

“Oh, just go eat a dick, Parv.”

“Like you’ve been doing recently?”

“Parv. Oh. My God.” Nilesy hid his face Panda’s hair.

“You are what you eat.” Sparkles murmured.

Parv heard and gave him a wink.

The dreams that came to him in the dark of the night were vastly different to the positive atmosphere that was otherwise surrounding him. He’d slip into something, a scene he blinked out of a soon as he caught himself drifting.

He saw

 ** _Pand_** ** _̴_** ** _a_** ** _͠_** **_͏_** ** _t_** ** _͜_** ** _i_** ** _g_** ** _̡_** ** _htening_** ** _͞_** **_̡_** ** _a_** ** _͝_** ** _belt_** ** _͜_** ** _i_** ** _͏_** ** _n_** ** _̴_** **_͝_** ** _h_** ** _̨_** ** _is_** ** _h_** ** _̴_** ** _an_** ** _̢_** ** _d_** ** _͜_** ** _s_** ** _̡_** ** _._** ** _͞_**

 **_A_ ** **_̛_ ** **_c_ ** **_҉_ ** **_e_ ** **_̵_ ** **_r_ ** **_̶_ ** **_emo_ ** **_̵_ ** **_n_ ** **_i_ ** **_͞_ ** **_a_ ** **_͘_ ** **_l_ ** **_̶_ ** **_d_ ** **_̴_ ** **_a_ ** **_͠_ ** **_gg_ ** **_͟_ ** **_e_ ** **_̨_ ** **_r_ **

**_G_** ** _̢_** ** _ree_** ** _͏_** ** _n_** ** _̶_** **_͠_** ** _ey_** ** _̡_** ** _es_**

 **_Tr_ ** **_̧_ ** **_e_ ** **_͏_ ** **_e_ ** **_̵_ ** **_s_ ** **_͡_ **

and did what he was told to do with dreams.

He wrote them down.

*

**The Echoplane was an unexpected location to dream of. As he gazed upon the Echo he waited for the reason he was actually there to reveal herself. When he imagined himself reaching up to submerge the tips of his fingers in the wisps of rosy light he felt a sudden rush of power, of potential.**

**_Not for you, little one._ **

**He was gripped by a sudden force, bringing him back down and into the presence of the pink haired woman who stood beside him. Her green eyes were one of the brightest things in this visual landscape of light. She had a hand around the back of his neck, holding him firmly. Their shapes were humanoid, physical. She’d adjusted their meeting scenario, he knew.**

**_Oh sorry._ **

**She smiled at him, her teeth glittered, too pearly white. Too sharp.**

**_You’re getting closer._ **

**_To what?_ **

**_To fulfilling your role._ ** **She relaxed her grip and let her hand slip to touch his cheek. _Knowledge is not yours alone to keep. I’d rather you didn’t waste your potential._**

 **_Potential?_ ** **His mind reeled. _What role?_**

**She sighed, smile fading. _A shame. You love torturing yourself so, little seer._**

**_Cassandra?!_ ** **He could feel the Universe breaking apart again. _Help me!_**

 **_You’re looking at it all wrong._ ** **Void seeped in through cracks, pulling Cassandra’s Universe into its nothingness. _And I am the wrong kind of God to beg to for guidance._**

*

Cassandra, he decided, was a bitch. Or just a God, perhaps. A merciless God. He wrote in his sleep diary for the last time and packed up his things ready for the day. He’d gone through with everything he’d been told to do, with little improvement on the other side. His dreams hadn’t changed. His snapshot visions during the daytime hadn’t gone away. He hadn’t had headaches since the incident, but that was a small mercy to be thankful for when he still s _aw._

Dr Soence was not privy to the deepest and darkest of his thoughts and visions, but as she sat down for his final evaluation he could read an element of concern in her attitude.

“You haven’t had any migraines for this month, which may suggest it was a symptom of your bottled-up stress mixing terribly with everything else you have going on. Likewise, the daytime hallucinations are likely a side effect of sleep deprivation.”

“Right.” He said slowly. “So, what do I have?”

“It seems you’re suffering from two things, which have been terrible on you from their contradictory nature.”

He frowned. He was curious as to what they had pinned him down as suffering from in regular people terms. “Go on.”

“Firstly, it seems that you regularly suffer from night terrors. This is actually rather uncommon out of childhood, and even for adults its usually between the ages of 20 and 30. They’re rather different from regular nightmares because of the extent of the reaction. Ordinary nightmares don’t trigger panic attacks.

“The other, which is a large factor for all your other symptoms, is Insomnia. You’re dealing with stress, and other health related issues within your daily life, which makes sleep difficult for you.”

“I’ve already adjusted my diet, made sure I do lots of walking.” He said.

“Yes.” She looked up from her tablet and into Sparkles’ eyes. “Which is why we are prescribing medication to help you.”

Ok.” He said, nodding thoughtfully. “Alright.”

“What the program recommends is lorazepam. It’s primarily used to deal with anxiety disorders. To ensure your nights are filled with better sleep it will help you stay calm. It’s a dose a day: to be taken in the evening, just before you go to bed preferably. The medication that we can give you at the front desk will be sufficient for two weeks.”

“That’s rather short, isn’t it?”

“Well, the thing about your condition is that it is only in severe cases that medication is prescribed, and in that case it is only as a temporary measure.”

“Why?” He asked, even though

**_Addiction_ **

he already knew.

“Taken too regularly patients become dependent on them. Little progress is made in actually dealing with the conditions, even adding to the issues themselves. The overall best way to treat your conditions is to use the lorazepam to help you sleep and get a consistent sleeping and eating schedule going. In another two weeks you should come back here and we will evaluate your progress.”

He took a deep breath and let it out again. This was so disconcerting, so strange. He was about to have a new way to deal with his power. He could barely hide his enthusiasm for a peaceful two weeks.

“It’s a complicated situation, I understand that.”

“It’s going to help me.” He said. “That’s all that matters.”

When his mother collected him from the entrance she eyed up his prescription bag.

“What’s the prescription?”

“Anxiety reducing drugs, for two weeks.”

“Huh.” She said. “Are they strong then?”

“Strong enough that they’re temporary.” Sparkles replied. “But they’re going to make my mock exams next week a whole lot easier.”

*

“You’re looking fantastic, Sparks.” Parv said to him.

“No, I don’t” He replied haughtily. “Don’t bullshit me like that.”

Parv and him were waiting outside of the hall they’d be taking their mock exam in, both going over their revision notes one last time before they were called on to start. His scribbled bullet points seemed to blur before his eyes, information he’d read over and over again to viciously memorise.

“You.” He prodded Sparkles’ shoulder with one finger. “Look like you actually sleep.”

“I mean, it looked like I slept previously.”

“Yeah, if it was something you only spent like an hour a day doing.” Parv turned his note sheet over. “It was in your eyes.”

“What’s in my eyes now?”

Parv turned to look at him, reaching out with a hand to lift up his chin. It was a tender pressure on his skin, a thoughtful scanning of his face as they stared into each other’s eyes for a couple of seconds. It wasn’t a power move like Cassandra’s contact had been.

“Relief.” Parv said at last, letting go of him. “They look bright again.”

“I wish I was as bright as my eyes.” Sparkles said simply.

“At least you’re as pretty as them.” Parv said with a sly wink. “If money is hard to come by, I think you’d find it very easy to get a sugar daddy now you’re not underage anymore.”

“Fuck no. What? Fuck off, you, you…” He couldn’t think of something close to putting his outburst of disgust into words.

Parv laughed a little. “No of course _you_ wouldn’t.”

“But you so would.”

“If the perks are good enough then fuck yeah, mate.”

Sparkles shook his head. “I don’t think I could do that, even if I fail everything and end up homeless.”

“Nah nah.” Parv said. “Think of it as good income on the side. You’re not even the one being taken advantage of in that kind of relationship anyway.”

“Not always.” Sparkles said, and he shoved his notes page into his rucksack just as the invigilator opened the door to the hall.

*

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 ** _҉_** ** _"Go_** ** _̨_** ** _t_** ** _̸_** **_bor_** ** _͟_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** ** _d."_** ** _̢_** ** _P_** ** _͟_** ** _arv_** ** _͟_** ** _s_** ** _͝_** ** _aid_** ** _͝_** **_̸_** ** _i_** ** _͢_** ** _n_** ** _͠_** ** _nocently_** ** _̵_** ** _,_** **_̢_** ** _che_** ** _̶_** ** _c_** ** _̛_** ** _king_** ** _͏_** ** _h_** ** _͡_** ** _i_** ** _̷_** ** _s_** ** _͘_** ** _bl_** ** _̧_** ** _ac_** ** _͠_** ** _k p_** ** _͞_** ** _ainted_** ** _͜_** **_͟_** ** _n_** ** _͞_** ** _ail_** ** _͞_** ** _s_** ** _̶_** ** _f_** ** _̸_** ** _or_** ** _͟_** ** _fl_** ** _҉_** ** _a_** ** _͞_** ** _w_** ** _̷_** ** _s_** ** _̷_** ** _._** ** _̸_**

 ** _"_** ** _̨_** ** _Th_** ** _͡_** ** _ere_** ** _͢_** ** _a_** ** _͡_** ** _r_** ** _̴_** ** _e_** ** _͘_** ** _2_** ** _͜_** ** _8_** ** _҉_** **_̡_** ** _c_** ** _̛_** ** _h_** ** _͘_** ** _e_** ** _̢_** ** _c_** ** _͘_** ** _kpoint_** ** _͟_** ** _s_** ** _̨_** ** _b_** ** _͝_** ** _e_** ** _͞_** ** _tw_** ** _͟_** ** _e_** ** _̵_** ** _en_** **_̨_** ** _t_** ** _̡_** ** _h_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _͢_** **_en_** ** _̛_** ** _tran_** ** _̴_** ** _c_** ** _͟_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** ** _of the_** ** _͟_** **_͟_** ** _b_** ** _̴_** ** _ui_** ** _̴_** ** _l_** ** _d_** ** _͢_** ** _i_** ** _͘_** ** _ng_** ** _͝_** **_an_** ** _̸_** ** _d_** ** _͟_** ** _h_** ** _̕_** ** _ere._** ** _͡_** ** _H_** ** _҉_** ** _ow_** ** _͢_** ** _did_** ** _̢_** ** _yo_** ** _҉_** ** _u_** ** _̵_** ** _e_** ** _ve_** ** _̸_** ** _n g_** ** _̢_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** ** _t_** ** _̵_** **_̡_** ** _in_** ** _͠_** ** _?_** ** _̡_** ** _"_**

 ** _͏_** ** _P_** ** _͏_** ** _ar_** ** _͢_** ** _v_** ** _̛_** **_͘_** ** _s_** ** _͟_** ** _at_** ** _҉_** **_͞_** ** _up stra_** ** _̴_** ** _ig_** ** _҉_** ** _h_** ** _͢_** ** _t_** ** _͘_** ** _and_** ** _̧_** ** _s_** ** _̴_** ** _t_** ** _̶_** ** _ar_** ** _̸_** ** _ted u_** ** _͞_** ** _n_** ** _҉_** ** _do_** ** _̕_** ** _i_** ** _͘_** ** _ng_** ** _̢_** ** _a_** ** _̡_** **_̕_** ** _s_** ** _͞_** ** _o_** ** _͞_** ** _dden_** ** _҉_** **_ba_** ** _̕_** ** _n_** ** _̸_** ** _d_** ** _̶_** ** _a_** ** _̛_** ** _ge fr_** ** _҉_** ** _om_** ** _̢_** ** _a_** ** _̡_** ** _r_** ** _͠_** ** _o_** ** _̕_** ** _u_** ** _͢_** ** _n_** ** _͟_** ** _d_** ** _͜_** **_͡_** ** _hi_** ** _͜_** ** _s_** ** _̧_** **_̕_** ** _b_** ** _icep_** ** _͘_** ** _,_** ** _̸_** **_̸_** ** _b_** ** _͏_** ** _loo_** ** _̶_** ** _d_** ** _̸_** **_̢_** ** _smear_** ** _̧_** ** _in_** ** _͏_** ** _g o_** ** _̡_** ** _n_** ** _͝_** ** _h_** ** _̸_** ** _i_** ** _s_** ** _͡_** ** _ha_** ** _̧_** ** _nd_** ** _̴_** ** _s._** ** _̴_** ** _W_** ** _͡_** ** _h_** ** _e_** ** _͠_** ** _n_** ** _͢_** ** _t_** ** _̡_** ** _he_** ** _͞_** **_͞_** ** _f_** ** _̛_** ** _ab_** ** _̕_** ** _r_** ** _̵_** ** _ic_** ** _͝_** ** _w_** ** _̷_** ** _as_** ** _͢_** ** _re_** ** _͘_** ** _mov_** ** _̧_** ** _ed_** ** _̢_** ** _it_** ** _͠_** ** _r_** ** _͝_** ** _e_** ** _̕_** ** _ve_** ** _̡_** ** _aled_** ** _̡_** ** _a ritu_** ** _̶_** ** _al_** ** _͟_** ** _s_** ** _͞_** ** _ymbol_** ** _̷_** ** _s_** ** _l_** ** _͟_** ** _ic_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** ** _d int_** ** _͡_** ** _o_** ** _͞_** ** _h_** ** _̛_** ** _is ski_** ** _̧_** ** _n_** ** _̷_** ** _,_** ** _̛_** ** _b_** ** _͠_** ** _lo_** ** _̡_** ** _od_** ** _̸_** ** _s_** ** _t_** ** _͞_** ** _i_** ** _̵_** ** _ll_** **_͏_** ** _freshly_** ** _leak_** ** _͡_** ** _in_** ** _͝_** ** _g_** ** _̸_** **_͢_** ** _o_** ** _̡_** ** _ut_** ** _̛_** ** _._** ** _̨_**

 ** _͝_** ** _The_** ** _̡_** ** _r_** ** _҉_** ** _u_** ** _͟_** ** _ne_** ** _͏_** **_̸_** ** _a_** ** _̴_** ** _llowi_** ** _͘_** ** _n_** ** _͞_** ** _g_** ** _͞_** ** _telep_** ** _or_** ** _͟_** ** _ta_** ** _̛_** ** _t_** ** _̴_** ** _io_** ** _͢_** ** _n_** ** _̶_** ** _t_** ** _҉_** ** _o_** ** _҉_** ** _a_** ** _̸_** ** _l_** ** _̴_** ** _o_** ** _͡_** ** _c_** ** _͞_** ** _a_** ** _̕_** ** _ti_** ** _̴_** ** _o_** ** _͠_** ** _n w_** ** _̢_** ** _he_** ** _̷_** ** _re_** ** _̡_** ** _a_** ** _̴_** ** _noth_** ** _̸_** ** _er vers_** ** _͠_** ** _i_** ** _̡_** ** _o_** ** _͢_** ** _n_** ** _͠_** ** _o_** ** _͢_** ** _f_** ** _it_** ** _̶_** **_̧_** ** _ex_** ** _͡_** ** _i_** ** _̨_** ** _s_** ** _͏_** ** _t_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _̡_** ** _d._**

 ** _̨_** ** _S_** ** _̛_** ** _t_** ** _҉_** ** _rif_** ** _͡_** ** _e_** ** _had_** ** _͜_** ** _s_** ** _͝_** ** _lam_** ** _̨_** ** _m_** ** _͝_** ** _e_** ** _͜_** ** _d_** ** _͞_** ** _the_** ** _̸_** **_do_** ** _̸_** ** _o_** ** _̢_** ** _r s_** ** _̴_** ** _hut th_** ** _͡_** ** _e_** ** _͢_** ** _m_** ** _̨_** ** _o_** ** _̢_** ** _m_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _͏_** ** _nt th_** ** _e_** ** _̸_** ** _band_** ** _͜_** ** _ages had st_** ** _͟_** ** _ar_** ** _҉_** ** _t_** ** _̨_** ** _ed_** **_͡_** ** _co_** ** _͏_** ** _m_** ** _̵_** ** _in_** ** _҉_** ** _g_** **_͡_** ** _off,_** ** _҉_** **_lo_** ** _͘_** ** _c_** ** _̛_** ** _k_** ** _̶_** ** _i_** ** _ng_** ** _͠_** **_̡_** ** _t_** ** _͠_** ** _h_** ** _̷_** ** _e do_** ** _͡_** ** _o_** ** _̵_** ** _r_** ** _̛_** ** _w_** ** _i_** ** _͜_** ** _th a wa_** ** _͡_** ** _v_** ** _̴_** ** _e of hi_** ** _͏_** ** _s_** ** _͠_** **_͝_** ** _ha_** ** _̷_** ** _nd._** ** _͘_** **_̸_** ** _H_** ** _e_** ** _̡_** **_͘_** ** _f_** ** _̵_** ** _r_** ** _̶_** ** _owned_** ** _҉_** **_҉_** ** _a_** ** _t P_** ** _͘_** ** _arv_** ** _͝_** **_̴_** ** _as the_** ** _͢_** **_̧_** ** _s_** ** _̴_** ** _ymb_** ** _͜_** ** _o_** ** _̸_** ** _l_** ** _͘_** **_͝_** ** _w_** ** _͢_** ** _as_** ** _͝_** ** _rev_** ** _ea_** ** _͝_** ** _led_** ** _҉_** ** _, str_** ** _̨_** ** _i_** ** _̛_** ** _din_** ** _̧_** ** _g_** ** _̵_** ** _ac_** ** _͏_** ** _r_** ** _҉_** ** _os_** ** _͟_** ** _s_** ** _̧_** ** _t_** ** _͟_** ** _he_** ** _̴_** ** _r_** ** _͘_** ** _o_** ** _͟_** ** _o_** ** _͞_** ** _m t_** ** _̡_** ** _o_** ** _̨_** **_̸_** ** _t_** ** _̴_** ** _he scr_** ** _͜_** ** _ol_** ** _͏_** ** _ls on_** ** _͡_** ** _t_** ** _̷_** ** _h_** ** _͡_** ** _e d_** ** _͢_** ** _es_** ** _̸_** ** _k._** ** _͏_** **_̸_** ** _H_** ** _͝_** ** _e_** ** _̴_** **_͘_** ** _h_** ** _͢_** ** _eld_** ** _̕_** ** _u_** ** _̷_** ** _p_** ** _͞_** ** _o_** ** _̷_** ** _ne_** ** _͠_** ** _,_** ** _lo_** ** _͡_** ** _okin_** ** _͜_** ** _g_** ** _̷_** ** _bet_** ** _̷_** ** _w_** ** _̛_** ** _een i_** ** _͡_** ** _t_** ** _͢_** ** _a_** ** _͏_** ** _n_** ** _̛_** ** _d P_** ** _̨_** ** _arv_** ** _'_** ** _͟_** ** _s arm_** ** _̡_** ** _b_** ** _͢_** ** _efor_** ** _̷_** ** _e_** ** _͠_** ** _sig_** ** _̵_** ** _hi_** ** _̛_** ** _n_** ** _̶_** ** _g._**

 ** _"I_** ** _̢_** ** _to_** ** _̧_** ** _l_** ** _҉_** ** _d y_** ** _͢_** ** _o_** ** _͠_** ** _u_** ** _̨_** **_no_** ** _͏_** ** _t_** ** _͏_** **_̧_** ** _to_** ** _͢_** **_͏_** ** _t_** ** _r_** ** _͜_** ** _y_** ** _̕_** ** _ou_** ** _҉_** ** _t t_** ** _̶_** ** _h_** ** _̴_** ** _is_** ** _̴_** **_̨_** ** _on_** ** _e._** ** _͞_** ** _"_** ** _͟_**

 **_̨_ ** **_"A_ ** **_̡_ ** **_re_ ** **_͘_ ** **_yo_ ** **_̶_ ** **_u_ ** **_͢_ ** **_kidding_ ** **_͏_ ** **_m_ ** **_̕_ ** **_e?"_ **

**_͟_** ** _"_** ** _̶_** ** _Y_** ** _̧_** ** _o_** ** _̶_** ** _u could_** ** _͜_** **_͟_** ** _hav_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** ** _en_** ** _͝_** ** _d_** ** _͡_** ** _ed u_** ** _͢_** ** _p_** ** _͠_** **_͡_** ** _anywhe_** ** _̸_** ** _re._** ** _̸_** ** _D_** ** _o_** ** _͞_** ** _y_** ** _͞_** ** _o_** ** _͜_** ** _u_** ** _̶_** ** _hav_** ** _̡_** ** _e_** ** _̨_** ** _a_** ** _̧_** ** _ny_** ** _͘_** **_̛_** ** _i_** ** _̧_** ** _d_** ** _̛_** ** _e_** ** _͜_** ** _a_** ** _͜_** ** _how_** ** _̨_** ** _man_** ** _͞_** ** _y_** ** _̨_** **_̵_** ** _v_** ** _̶_** ** _er_** ** _̵_** ** _s_** ** _͏_** ** _i_** ** _̶_** ** _ons_** ** _̴_** ** _o_** ** _̵_** ** _f_** ** _̨_** ** _t_** ** _҉_** ** _he_** ** _͠_** ** _se_** ** _҉_** ** _an_** ** _̡_** ** _c_** ** _͟_** ** _ien_** ** _͟_** ** _t_** ** _̵_** ** _s_** ** _͟_** ** _crol_** ** _͜_** ** _ls_** ** _͘_** ** _and jo_** ** _͜_** ** _ur_** ** _͞_** ** _n_** ** _̡_** ** _a_** ** _̛_** ** _l_** ** _̶_** ** _s_** ** _͞_** ** _are_** ** _̴_** **_͢_** ** _hi_** ** _̸_** ** _dd_** ** _͏_** ** _e_** ** _̶_** ** _n_** ** _̛_** **_͢_** ** _ar_** ** _͠_** ** _o_** ** _̴_** ** _un_** ** _͟_** ** _d t_** ** _͠_** ** _h_** ** _͝_** ** _e w_** ** _͢_** ** _or_** ** _̧_** ** _ld_** ** _̶_** ** _?_** ** _͞_** **_̷_** ** _Not_** ** _҉_** ** _in_** ** _͝_** ** _e_** ** _͟_** ** _asy_** ** _̡_** **_͝_** ** _t_** ** _o_** ** _͜_** ** _a_** ** _̕_** ** _cc_** ** _̵_** ** _ess places_** ** _͡_** **_͢_** ** _mo_** ** _͏_** ** _s_** ** _͝_** ** _t o_** ** _f_** ** _̢_** ** _th_** ** _҉_** ** _e_** ** _m_** ** _."_**

 ** _͞_** ** _"I_** ** _͏_** ** _w_** ** _̷_** ** _o_** ** _͘_** ** _u_** ** _͝_** ** _l_** ** _̛_** ** _d_** ** _̛_** **_̵_** ** _h_** ** _̡_** ** _ave b_** ** _͟_** ** _e_** ** _̴_** ** _en_** ** _f_** ** _̸_** ** _i_** ** _̴_** ** _n_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _͏_** ** _."_** ** _̛_** ** _Par_** ** _҉_** ** _v_** ** _̛_** ** _p_** ** _͞_** ** _rot_** ** _̵_** ** _este_** ** _͢_** ** _d._** ** _͘_** ** _"_** ** _̴_** ** _I_** ** _͠_** **_͡_** ** _w_** ** _̧_** ** _ou_** ** _̧_** ** _l_** ** _̨_** ** _d_** ** _̧_** ** _k_** ** _̛_** ** _now_** ** _͏_** ** _h_** ** _̨_** ** _o_** ** _͜_** ** _w_** ** _̶_** ** _to_** ** _̵_** **_g_** ** _͏_** ** _et_** ** _̴_** ** _ho_** ** _̨_** ** _ld_** ** _̢_** **_̸_** ** _o_** ** _̶_** ** _f_** ** _y_** ** _̨_** ** _ou_** ** _̢_** ** _ag_** ** _ai_** ** _͝_** ** _n_** ** _̶_** ** _._** ** _͘_** ** _"_** ** _͢_**

 ** _"P_** ** _̶_** ** _ar_** ** _̛_** ** _v,_** ** _͞_** ** _yo_** ** _̢_** ** _ur s_** ** _͠_** ** _oluti_** ** _̵_** ** _on_** ** _̷_** **_͢_** ** _to ge_** ** _t_** ** _̛_** ** _ting_** ** _͜_** ** _i_** ** _n_** ** _̵_** ** _a pi_** ** _̸_** ** _ck_** ** _͞_** ** _l_** ** _̧_** ** _e_** ** _̵_** ** _sh_** ** _̸_** ** _o_** ** _҉_** ** _ul_** ** _̸_** ** _dn_** ** _'t_** ** _̴_** ** _b_** ** _͡_** ** _e_** ** _͘_** ** _t_** ** _̸_** ** _o_** ** _̴_** **_̢_** ** _s_** ** _҉_** ** _um_** ** _͏_** ** _m_** ** _̸_** ** _on_** ** _̨_** ** _me_** ** _̵_** ** _."_** ** _͡_**

 ** _̷_** ** _P_** ** _̸_** ** _arv_** ** _̸_** ** _po_** ** _͡_** ** _ute_** ** _̧_** ** _d._** ** _͢_** ** _"_** ** _̷_** ** _O_** ** _̡_** ** _h_** ** _͝_** ** _,_** ** _̡_** ** _Wi_** ** _̛_** ** _l_** ** _҉_** ** _l_** ** _͠_** ** _, c'm_** ** _o_** ** _͝_** ** _n_** ** _͞_** ** _._** ** _̸_** **_͜_** ** _L_** ** _͘_** ** _i_** ** _̕_** ** _g_** ** _̧_** ** _ht_** ** _̛_** ** _e_** ** _̶_** ** _n u_** ** _͟_** ** _p._** ** _L_** ** _̡_** ** _o_** ** _̷_** ** _o_** ** _͡_** ** _k_** ** _͟_** ** _wh_** ** _͟_** ** _at I'_** ** _͏_** ** _ve d_** ** _̧_** ** _o_** ** _̧_** ** _ne_** ** _͝_** ** _o_** ** _͟_** ** _n_** ** _͢_** **_͞_** ** _m_** ** _̛_** ** _y o_** ** _̕_** ** _wn_** ** _͟_** ** _._** ** _̴_** ** _L_** ** _̷_** ** _oo_** ** _̵_** ** _k_** ** _͜_** ** _what_** ** _̕_** ** _I'_** ** _̷_** ** _v_** ** _̛_** ** _e_** ** _͞_** **_̧_** ** _done_** ** _̨_** ** _f_** ** _͟_** ** _or_** ** _͝_** **_͘_** ** _yo_** ** _͢_** ** _u_** ** _͞_** ** _._** ** _͢_** ** _"_** ** _͞_**

 ** _͢_** ** _St_** ** _͏_** ** _r_** ** _̡_** ** _i_** ** _͏_** ** _fe_** ** _͏_** **_s_** ** _̴_** ** _t_** ** _͡_** ** _ood_** ** _̡_** **_͡_** ** _ga_** ** _͡_** ** _zi_** ** _҉_** ** _n_** ** _̸_** ** _g d_** ** _own_** ** _̢_** ** _a_** ** _͟_** ** _t_** ** _͘_** ** _Parv_** ** _̧_** ** _'s a_** ** _do_** ** _̵_** ** _r_** ** _͟_** ** _in_** ** _g_** ** _̷_** ** _exp_** ** _̛_** ** _re_** ** _҉_** ** _ss_** ** _̛_** ** _io_** ** _̢_** ** _n_** ** _̧_** ** _w_** ** _̷_** ** _i_** ** _҉_** ** _t_** ** _̷_** ** _h_** ** _̴_** **_͝_** ** _a_** ** _̷_** **_͞_** ** _sol_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _̕_** ** _mn an_** ** _̕_** ** _ger_** ** _҉_** ** _t_** ** _͝_** ** _h_** ** _̶_** ** _at_** ** _̶_** ** _s_** ** _̢_** ** _o_** ** _̷_** ** _f_** ** _̨_** ** _te_** ** _̧_** ** _n_** ** _͢_** ** _ed_** ** _̵_** **_̶_** ** _wit_** ** _͏_** ** _h_** ** _̨_** ** _a_** ** _͞_** ** _n_** ** _̴_** ** _o_** ** _̵_** ** _t_** ** _͏_** ** _he_** ** _̕_** ** _r s_** ** _͡_** ** _i_** ** _̸_** ** _gh. He c_** ** _̶_** ** _los_** ** _͡_** ** _ed_** ** _̷_** ** _hi_** ** _s_** ** _̨_** ** _e_** ** _̶_** ** _y_** ** _̨_** ** _es and f_** ** _̧_** ** _ound a_** ** _̵_** ** _d_** ** _͟_** ** _eg_** ** _͝_** ** _re_** ** _̧_** ** _e_** ** _o_** ** _̶_** ** _f pati_** ** _͘_** ** _e_** ** _͘_** ** _n_** ** _ce._** ** _̧_** ** _Wh_** ** _̛_** ** _e_** ** _̡_** ** _n h_** ** _̧_** ** _i_** ** _̶_** ** _s_** ** _̴_** ** _eyes_** ** _̕_** ** _op_** ** _͢_** ** _en_** ** _e_** ** _̵_** ** _d_** ** _̧_** ** _a_** ** _̧_** ** _gain_** ** _̵_** ** _th_** ** _̶_** ** _ey_** ** _̸_** ** _w_** ** _̨_** ** _ere_** ** _̡_** ** _a g_** ** _̴_** ** _lo_** ** _͘_** ** _ssy_** ** _͞_** ** _sc_** ** _̛_** ** _arle_** ** _͢_** ** _t_** ** _͘_** ** _, old_** ** _̡_** ** _a_** ** _̵_** ** _n_** ** _̸_** ** _d_** ** _̢_** **_̛_** ** _b_** ** _̛_** ** _r_** ** _̢_** ** _igh_** ** _͜_** ** _t. He_** ** _̸_** ** _rested a_** ** _͠_** **_͝_** ** _ha_** ** _̡_** ** _nd_** ** _͟_** ** _o_** ** _͘_** ** _n_** ** _̵_** **_̷_** ** _P_** ** _̛_** ** _a_** ** _͠_** ** _rv'_** ** _̷_** ** _s ea_** ** _͞_** ** _ger s_** ** _҉_** ** _ho_** ** _͟_** ** _u_** ** _̡_** ** _l_** ** _͏_** ** _de_** ** _҉_** ** _r_** ** _w_** ** _͝_** ** _h_** ** _̛_** ** _i_** ** _̕_** ** _le p_** ** _̨_** ** _ut_** ** _t_** ** _͡_** ** _i_** ** _͘_** ** _ng th_** ** _e_** ** _scro_** ** _͏_** ** _l_** ** _̕_** ** _l_** ** _͝_** **_̶_** ** _d_** ** _̷_** ** _o_** ** _̡_** ** _wn_** ** _̕_** ** _a_** ** _҉_** ** _g_** ** _̷_** ** _a_** ** _͞_** ** _in._**

 ** _͝_** ** _"_** ** _͠_** ** _But,_** ** _̡_** ** _y_** ** _̨_** ** _es_** ** _͏_** ** _. I'm i_** ** _mp_** ** _̛_** ** _r_** ** _͢_** ** _ess_** ** _͠_** ** _ed w_** ** _͡_** ** _i_** ** _҉_** ** _th_** ** _your_** ** _̶_** **_͘_** ** _ski_** ** _l_** ** _̡_** ** _l_** ** _͢_** ** _._** ** _Yo_** ** _͏_** ** _u'_** ** _̨_** ** _v_** ** _̡_** ** _e_** ** _̵_** ** _d_** ** _͟_** ** _one_** ** _̕_** ** _v_** ** _̶_** ** _er_** ** _̧_** ** _y_** ** _̴_** ** _wel_** ** _͝_** ** _l_** ** _̴_** ** _P_** ** _̷_** ** _ar_** ** _̷_** ** _v_** ** _̧_** ** _i_** ** _̛_** ** _s_** ** _͢_** ** _._** ** _͞_** ** _"_** ** _͏_**

 ** _P_** ** _̶_** ** _ar_** ** _̵_** ** _v_** ** _̸_** ** _'_** ** _s_** ** _͟_** **_͞_** ** _s_** ** _̨_** ** _m_** ** _̴_** ** _i_** ** _͟_** ** _le_** ** _̛_** ** _grew a_** ** _nd_** ** _̧_** ** _b_** ** _̶_** ** _eca_** ** _͜_** ** _m_** ** _̡_** ** _e_** ** _̕_** **_͞_** ** _m_** ** _͏_** ** _o_** ** _̛_** ** _re_** ** _̵_** ** _p_** ** _l_** ** _͞_** ** _a_** ** _̢_** ** _y_** ** _̢_** ** _f_** ** _̸_** ** _ul._**

 ** _̷_** ** _"_** ** _͢_** ** _Ar_** ** _̴_** ** _e_** ** _̵_** ** _you_** ** _͘_** ** _g_** ** _̸_** ** _oin_** ** _̡_** ** _g_** ** _̸_** ** _t_** ** _̴_** ** _o_** ** _̴_** **_͠_** ** _r_** ** _̶_** ** _e_** ** _͞_** ** _w_** ** _͜_** ** _ard m_** ** _͏_** ** _e_** ** _͡_** ** _now,_** ** _̢_** ** _Will_** ** _̨_** ** _i_** ** _̧_** ** _a_** ** _͘_** ** _m?_** ** _͢_** ** _"_** ** _͝_**

 ** _Str_** ** _̛_** ** _if_** ** _̵_** ** _e_** ** _͠_** ** _b_** ** _̨_** ** _l_** ** _͠_** ** _ink_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _͞_** ** _d_** ** _͏_** ** _a_** ** _̷_** ** _n_** ** _͟_** ** _d hi_** ** _̕_** ** _s_** ** _̨_** ** _g_** ** _͞_** ** _a_** ** _̵_** ** _z_** ** _̕_** ** _e i_** ** _͢_** ** _n_** ** _̕_** ** _s_** ** _͢_** ** _t_** ** _̡_** ** _a_** ** _̢_** ** _n_** ** _̕_** ** _t_** ** _̧_** ** _l_** ** _͢_** ** _y_** ** _҉_** **_̡_** ** _h_** ** _̷_** ** _a_** ** _҉_** ** _rd_** ** _̷_** ** _en_** ** _͏_** ** _ed. "_** ** _I_** ** _̵_** **_͢_** ** _h_** ** _ave_** ** _w_** ** _o_** ** _͜_** ** _rk_** ** _͡_** ** _t_** ** _̶_** ** _o d_** ** _̴_** ** _o_** ** _͝_** ** _, Par_** ** _͜_** ** _vis_** ** _̧_** ** _._** ** _̶_** ** _"_**

 ** _͘_** ** _Par_** ** _͟_** ** _v_** ** _̶_** ** _tu_** ** _r_** ** _ned_** ** _͞_** ** _hims_** ** _͜_** ** _elf_** ** _͞_** **_̧_** ** _boneles_** ** _̢_** ** _s_** ** _͘_** ** _,_** ** _҉_** ** _s_** ** _̶_** ** _lipp_** ** _i_** ** _͏_** ** _n_** ** _̵_** ** _g_** ** _҉_** **_̸_** ** _off_** ** _͏_** ** _t_** ** _he_** ** _͝_** ** _c_** ** _͝_** ** _ha_** ** _̕_** ** _i_** ** _͠_** ** _r_** ** _͘_** ** _a_** ** _̨_** ** _nd un_** ** _͡_** ** _d_** ** _̵_** ** _er the d_** ** _͏_** ** _e_** ** _̴_** ** _s_** ** _k._**

 ** _"_** ** _͠_** ** _O_** ** _̛_** ** _h_** ** _̶_** ** _, I_** ** _͞_** ** _don_** ** _̢_** ** _'t_** **_͟_** ** _mi_** ** _͝_** ** _nd_** ** _̨_** ** _._** ** _͢_** ** _I_** ** _k_** ** _͢_** ** _n_** ** _̷_** ** _ow exac_** ** _̢_** ** _tl_** ** _̢_** ** _y w_** ** _҉_** ** _h_** ** _̴_** ** _at_** ** _I_** ** _҉_** ** _'ve_** ** _earnt_** ** _̧_** ** _._** ** _̧_** ** _"_** ** _͘_**

 ** _͘_** ** _Stri_** ** _͟_** ** _fe_** ** _̨_** ** _'s s_** ** _̵_** ** _m_** ** _̴_** ** _ile a_** ** _̶_** ** _s_** ** _҉_** ** _h_** ** _̨_** ** _e_** ** _̧_** **_̕_** ** _l_** ** _̷_** ** _ooke_** ** _̸_** ** _d_** ** _͏_** ** _u_** ** _̛_** ** _p_** ** _̵_** **_͝_** ** _at_** ** _̵_** ** _t_** ** _̧_** ** _he_** ** _͜_** **_ceil_** ** _͞_** ** _i_** ** _͞_** ** _ng_** ** _҉_** ** _w_** ** _̷_** ** _a_** ** _͝_** ** _s_** ** _̶_** **_͡_** ** _s_** ** _͝_** ** _o_** ** _͢_** ** _s_** ** _̢_** ** _l_** ** _̧_** ** _ig_** ** _̕_** ** _h_** ** _͏_** ** _t_** ** _̕_** ** _t_** ** _h_** ** _̶_** ** _a_** ** _̨_** ** _t it_** ** _͢_** ** _was_** ** _barel_** ** _͏_** ** _y di_** ** _̕_** ** _stingu_** ** _̢_** ** _i_** ** _͘_** ** _s_** ** _͘_** ** _h_** ** _a_** ** _͘_** ** _ble._** ** _̢_** **_̛_** ** _"I_** ** _̨_** ** _f s_** ** _͟_** ** _om_** ** _͡_** ** _e_** ** _͞_** ** _o_** ** _͢_** ** _ne_** ** _͜_** ** _k_** ** _̡_** ** _n_** ** _͜_** ** _ocks,_** ** _̡_** **_d_** ** _̸_** ** _on_** ** _̴_** ** _'_** ** _̡_** ** _t_** ** _͝_** **_͟_** ** _ma_** ** _͝_** ** _k_** ** _̨_** ** _e_** ** _͡_** **_̵_** ** _a sou_** ** _n_** ** _̶_** ** _d_** ** _͜_** ** _._** ** _͝_** ** _"_**

 ** _And_** ** _̷_** ** _h_** ** _͝_** ** _e_** ** _҉_** **_͞_** ** _sa_** ** _̶_** ** _t down_** ** _̢_** _._

*

“Softer?” Asked his mother, holding her steaming teacup carefully in her hands. “How do you mean?”

“Uh.” Sparkles considered how he could possibly explain things. “They’re less brutal. About common things.”

“No deaths?”

“No deaths. No destruction.” He looked away. “It’s people talking. People I know and know of.”

“So, the medicine is working?”

“Yeah, I’d say so.” He said. “I’m sleeping so much better now. I get a bit drowsy pretty quickly after I take the medicine though. That just means I have to take it literally as I’m settling down in bed or I’ll conk out as I’m brushing my teeth or something.”

“I’m happy that’s working out for you.” She smiled. “Even though your mocks were being a pain you seem so much happier, darling.”

“I feel it, you know.” He stood up. “And on that note, I do have to go back now. I’ll come back tomorrow, and we can spend some proper time together.”

She walked him to the door. “I’m actually going for lunch with some old work friends tomorrow, so it’ll have to be another evening thing.”

“Oh, which ones?” He asked, working his feet into his trainers.

“Mal, Ronnie, Harriet, that lot.”

Sparkles swallowed around the distaste that flooded his mouth to hear about her again.

“Lalna’s mum?”

“That’s the one.”

She stopped, looked aside as if she’d misstepped for the first time in years, and then decided to carry on and avoid mentioning it.

“I think he was in one of my dreams.” Sparkles said suddenly, eyebrows furrowing.

“Oh, really? What happened to him.”

“It was really weird.” Sparkles said, a laugh forcing itself from between his lips. “He got a DIY tattoo with a friend. A friend who had a skin condition or something.”

“Lalna never seemed like the sort to get a tattoo.”

“He was drunk.” Sparkles said. “But he didn’t regret getting it.”

“Regardless.” His mother held open the door for him. “The content seems a lot better than before.”

“Yeah.” Sparkles pecked her cheek and started walking away. “Message me tomorrow so I know when to come.”

“Will do, darling. Love you.”

“Be safe. Goodbye.”

The sky up above him was still light despite the night desperately awaiting it’s time. As he looked up, mindful of where he was walking on the path, he could see the twinkling dots of a few stars already. It was like a tamer version of the Echo, he thought. A silent recreation of a reality that would never be able to exist before his actual eyes.

He hoped he would never have to see the end of Cassandra’s Universe again.

*

 ** _T_** ** _͟_** ** _a_** ** _͡_** ** _w_** ** _n_** ** _͏_** ** _y_** **_̕_** ** _s_** ** _͘_** ** _a_** ** _͜_** ** _t_** ** _̡_** **_̶_** ** _with_** ** _̴_** ** _h_** ** _͡_** ** _er_** ** _͡_** **_le_** ** _̧_** ** _g_** ** _̸_** ** _s_** ** _̕_** ** _h_** ** _͝_** ** _a_** ** _̕_** ** _ng_** ** _i_** ** _̨_** ** _ng_** ** _o_** ** _̷_** ** _ve_** ** _͡_** ** _r_** ** _̛_** ** _the_** ** _͜_** **_͞_** ** _edg_** ** _̵_** ** _e_** ** _̕_** **_͟_** ** _of_** ** _̕_** **_҉_** ** _t_** ** _̸_** ** _he_** ** _͟_** ** _w_** ** _͡_** ** _a_** ** _̶_** ** _l_** ** _l, e_** ** _̵_** ** _m_** ** _͘_** ** _pt_** ** _y_** ** _͝_** **_͟_** ** _ai_** ** _̡_** ** _r_** ** _͜_** ** _ben_** ** _͏_** ** _eat_** ** _͞_** ** _h h_** ** _͘_** ** _er_** ** _͠_** ** _,_** ** _̨_** ** _emp_** ** _͟_** ** _ty_** ** _҉_** **_͢_** ** _a_** ** _͏_** ** _i_** ** _r_** ** _̧_** **_͜_** ** _a_** ** _b_** ** _̢_** ** _o_** ** _̴_** ** _ve her_** ** _̸_** ** _. H_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _̢_** ** _ha_** ** _͢_** ** _n_** ** _͠_** ** _ds re_** ** _͠_** ** _st_** ** _͝_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** ** _d_** ** _̴_** ** _on_** ** _͝_** **_҉_** ** _th_** ** _̴_** ** _e_** ** _҉_** ** _edg_** ** _̛_** ** _e_** ** _͡_** **_͟_** ** _w_** ** _̨_** ** _ith_** ** _͢_** **_̨_** ** _a_** ** _̢_** **_c_** ** _͘_** ** _a_** ** _̡_** ** _reless_** ** _nes_** ** _͜_** ** _s_** ** _̷_** **_̸_** ** _of_** ** _̷_** ** _some_** ** _͏_** ** _on_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _͟_** ** _wh_** ** _͟_** ** _o_** ** _͟_** ** _h_** ** _̢_** ** _a_** ** _d_** ** _͢_** **_̛_** ** _oft_** ** _͜_** ** _en_** ** _͘_** ** _don_** ** _̕_** ** _e t_** ** _̷_** ** _his_** ** _͜_** ** _._** ** _̕_** ** _A_** ** _͜_** ** _b_** ** _͜_** ** _o_** ** _͘_** ** _ve_** ** _͠_** ** _h_** ** _er_** ** _҉_** ** _wa_** ** _͟_** ** _s_** ** _͜_** ** _the cas_** ** _͏_** ** _ual_** ** _̷_** ** _sp_** ** _la_** ** _͏_** ** _s_** ** _̨_** ** _h_** ** _̛_** ** _o_** ** _͡_** ** _f_** ** _̢_** ** _t_** ** _̶_** ** _he_** ** _҉_** **_th_** ** _͏_** ** _o_** ** _͝_** ** _u_** ** _san_** ** _d_** ** _̕_** ** _s_** ** _͟_** ** _of_** ** _̛_** ** _s_** ** _̢_** ** _t_** ** _̶_** ** _a_** ** _̶_** ** _r_** ** _̢_** ** _s that_** ** _̡_** **_͢_** ** _l_** ** _̸_** ** _i_** ** _͠_** ** _tter_** ** _̕_** ** _ed_** ** _҉_** **_͝_** ** _th_** ** _e_** ** _̨_** ** _cle_** ** _͝_** ** _a_** ** _r_** ** _͜_** ** _skie_** ** _̛_** ** _s_** ** _͠_** ** _o_** ** _̷_** ** _f_** ** _̵_** ** _t_** ** _̧_** ** _h_** ** _͜_** ** _e_** **_̧_** ** _nig_** ** _͞_** ** _h_** ** _̕_** ** _t_** ** _._** ** _҉_**

 ** _͡_** ** _Sh_** ** _̶_** ** _e_** ** _͠_** **_̢_** ** _d_** ** _̡_** ** _id_** ** _͟_** ** _n't u_** ** _̨_** ** _s_** ** _̛_** ** _u_** ** _̵_** ** _a_** ** _͠_** ** _lly_** ** _͢_** **_̵_** ** _s_** ** _҉_** ** _e_** ** _͏_** ** _e_** ** _͏_** ** _t_** ** _͝_** ** _he_** ** _͝_** ** _m_** ** _f_** ** _͜_** ** _r_** ** _͝_** ** _om t_** ** _̢_** ** _he_** ** _͟_** ** _ci_** ** _͢_** ** _ty._**

 ** _̸_** ** _Her_** ** _̧_** **_͘_** ** _mask_** ** _wa_** ** _͡_** ** _s_** ** _͜_** ** _of_** ** _̴_** ** _f_** ** _̧_** ** _, a_** ** _͡_** ** _n_** ** _͟_** ** _d_** ** _̨_** **_̡_** ** _pl_** ** _̕_** ** _ace_** ** _͏_** ** _d_** ** _̵_** **_̸_** ** _b_** ** _̶_** ** _e_** ** _̶_** ** _si_** ** _̨_** ** _d_** ** _̴_** ** _e_** ** _̕_** ** _he_** ** _r,_** ** _̛_** ** _m_** ** _̸_** ** _ac_** ** _̷_** ** _e_** **_͝_** ** _re_** ** _̷_** ** _s_** ** _͡_** ** _ti_** ** _̵_** ** _n_** ** _̶_** ** _g_** ** _͝_** ** _n_** ** _̢_** ** _e_** ** _͘_** ** _xt t_** ** _͝_** ** _o i_** ** _͏_** ** _t_** ** _̛_** ** _._** ** _̕_** **_̢_** ** _S_** ** _̡_** ** _h_** ** _͏_** ** _e w_** ** _͜_** ** _a_** ** _i_** ** _̢_** ** _ted_** ** _̷_** ** _t_** ** _̷_** ** _here_** ** _̛_** **_͞_** ** _a_** ** _͢_** ** _l_** ** _̶_** ** _on_** ** _̡_** ** _g_** ** _҉_** ** _t_** ** _͜_** ** _ime_** ** _͏_** ** _._** ** _͜_** ** _S_** ** _͜_** ** _he_** ** _̶_** ** _d_** ** _͡_** ** _idn_** ** _'_** ** _̧_** ** _t_** ** _͏_** ** _lo_** ** _̧_** ** _o_** ** _̢_** ** _k as_** ** _͜_** ** _a_** ** _͝_** **_̕_** ** _he_** ** _̧_** ** _av_** ** _̸_** ** _il_** ** _͟_** ** _y_** ** _͜_** ** _b_** ** _̶_** ** _reathing_** ** _̵_** **_͟_** ** _fi_** ** _̨_** ** _g_** ** _͞_** ** _ur_** ** _͡_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** ** _r_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _͠_** ** _a_** ** _͝_** ** _c_** ** _̢_** ** _h_** ** _̨_** ** _ed_** ** _̕_** **_͏_** ** _t_** ** _̢_** ** _h_** ** _҉_** ** _e top_** ** _r_** ** _̨_** ** _ung_** ** _̢_** ** _s of_** ** _҉_** ** _t_** ** _͞_** ** _h_** ** _e l_** ** _̧_** ** _a_** ** _̢_** ** _d_** ** _͞_** ** _d_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _̴_** ** _r th_** ** _at_** ** _she_** ** _͟_** ** _h_** ** _̴_** ** _ad_** ** _͠_** ** _cli_** ** _͜_** ** _m_** ** _͡_** ** _b_** ** _͟_** ** _e_** ** _͞_** ** _d_** ** _̢_** ** _in much_** ** _͟_** **_͜_** ** _le_** ** _̧_** ** _ss_** **_̢_** ** _t_** ** _͟_** ** _i_** ** _̶_** ** _me_** ** _͝_** **_̨_** ** _th_** ** _̧_** ** _a_** ** _̶_** ** _n h_** ** _͜_** ** _e h_** ** _a_** ** _̨_** ** _d_** ** _̨_** **_̸_** ** _t_** ** _̸_** ** _a_** ** _̨_** ** _ke_** ** _n._** ** _̕_** ** _W_** ** _͜_** ** _h_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _̴_** ** _n_** ** _̴_** **_̷_** ** _Xe_** ** _̴_** ** _phos_** ** _҉_** ** _c_** ** _͏_** ** _l_** ** _͝_** ** _i_** ** _̷_** ** _m_** ** _͡_** ** _bed_** ** _̨_** **_͞_** ** _o_** ** _͜_** ** _v_** ** _̡_** ** _er th_** ** _e li_** ** _̶_** ** _p_** ** _̛_** ** _o_** ** _̵_** ** _f_** ** _͝_** ** _the_** **_w_** ** _͞_** ** _a_** ** _͢_** ** _l_** ** _͏_** ** _l_** ** _̕_** ** _h_** ** _͟_** ** _e_** ** _͘_** **_̛_** ** _c_** ** _ollapsed on_** ** _̸_** ** _the_** ** _̡_** ** _t_** ** _͡_** ** _op_** ** _̕_** ** _an_** ** _̵_** ** _d_** ** _͝_** **_̨_** ** _la_** ** _͡_** ** _y_** ** _͠_** ** _t_** ** _͟_** ** _h_** ** _̴_** ** _ere_** ** _̵_** ** _f_** ** _͠_** ** _or_** ** _͝_** **_a w_** ** _͘_** ** _hile_** ** _̶_** ** _._**

 ** _"_** ** _͡_** ** _Y_** ** _̕_** ** _ou_** ** _̷_** **_͜_** ** _n_** ** _̢_** ** _e_** ** _̧_** ** _e_** ** _͢_** ** _d_** ** _̶_** ** _to_** ** _͜_** **_͡_** ** _get ou_** ** _͜_** ** _t_** ** _̡_** **_̸_** ** _more._** ** _͠_** ** _"_** ** _̕_** **_͢_** ** _Tawn_** ** _y_** ** _s_** ** _͠_** ** _ai_** ** _̛_** ** _d w_** ** _͡_** ** _it_** ** _̨_** ** _h a_** ** _͡_** ** _sm_** ** _͢_** ** _il_** ** _̴_** ** _e._**

 ** _"_** ** _͝_** ** _I_** ** _͢_** ** _t_** ** _̵_** ** _h_** ** _̶_** ** _i_** ** _͝_** ** _nk_** ** _͘_** ** _I_** ** _͝_** ** _get_** ** _͟_** ** _o_** ** _u_** ** _͞_** ** _t_** ** _̴_** **_̨_** ** _e_** ** _̕_** ** _no_** ** _̢_** ** _ugh_** ** _͝_** ** _,_** ** _͠_** ** _t_** ** _ha_** ** _nk_** ** _͡_** ** _y_** ** _͏_** ** _ou very_** ** _̷_** ** _m_** ** _͟_** ** _uc_** ** _҉_** ** _h._** ** _̕_** ** _"_** ** _͞_** **_͘_** ** _He pan_** ** _te_** ** _d_** ** _͘_** ** _. "_** ** _̧_** ** _Yo_** ** _͞_** ** _u'_** ** _̢_** ** _r_** ** _͏_** ** _e_** ** _ju_** ** _̕_** ** _st o_** ** _͞_** ** _f_** ** _̛_** **_͡_** ** _some h_** ** _̨_** ** _i_** ** _͟_** ** _g_** ** _͟_** ** _he_** ** _͏_** ** _r_** ** _ca_** ** _҉_** ** _li_** ** _̵_** ** _bre_** ** _̢_** ** _o_** ** _̧_** ** _f fi_** ** _͏_** ** _t tha_** ** _̧_** ** _n_** ** _͜_** ** _I can_** ** _͜_** **_͠_** ** _e_** ** _͡_** ** _ver_** ** _̕_** ** _h_** ** _͟_** ** _op_** ** _̕_** ** _e to r_** ** _̛_** ** _e_** ** _̛_** ** _ac_** ** _̛_** ** _h_** ** _̛_** ** _._** ** _̢_** ** _"_** ** _҉_**

 ** _͡_** ** _S_** ** _he_** ** _̵_** ** _l_** ** _͞_** ** _a_** ** _̶_** ** _u_** ** _͠_** ** _ghe_** ** _̵_** ** _d_** ** _̷_** **_̛_** ** _l_** ** _̨_** ** _ightly_** ** _̴_** ** _an_** ** _̷_** ** _d_** ** _͠_** ** _p_** ** _͞_** ** _a_** ** _̨_** ** _t_** ** _̴_** ** _ted_** ** _̶_** ** _t_** ** _͢_** ** _h_** ** _̵_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** ** _wall_** ** _͞_** ** _n_** ** _̷_** ** _e_** ** _͠_** ** _x_** ** _͏_** ** _t_** ** _͝_** ** _t_** ** _̵_** ** _o_** ** _̛_** **_̨_** ** _he_** ** _r, X_** ** _̵_** ** _ephos b_** ** _͟_** ** _e_** ** _̨_** ** _ginn_** ** _͟_** ** _i_** ** _͜_** ** _n_** ** _͟_** ** _g to c_** ** _̕_** ** _r_** ** _͟_** ** _aw_** ** _͘_** ** _l_** ** _͢_** **_̡_** ** _o_** ** _̨_** ** _v_** ** _͠_** ** _er to_** ** _̶_** ** _he_** ** _͞_** ** _r._**

 ** _̨_** ** _"_** ** _͏_** ** _Why_** ** _͟_** ** _does_** ** _͟_** ** _t_** ** _҉_** ** _he_** ** _͜_** ** _best_** ** _͟_** ** _bl_** ** _͞_** ** _oo_** ** _҉_** ** _d_** ** _͏_** ** _y_** ** _҉_** **_͠_** ** _pl_** ** _͜_** ** _a_** ** _ce_** ** _̕_** ** _to_** ** _͟_** ** _s_** ** _҉_** ** _e_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** **_̧_** ** _t_** ** _̴_** ** _h_** ** _͘_** ** _e_** ** _̸_** ** _st_** ** _͏_** ** _a_** ** _҉_** ** _rs_** ** _̴_** **_h_** ** _̵_** ** _ave_** ** _̷_** ** _to_** ** _̛_** **_b_** ** _̕_** ** _e_** ** _̨_** ** _o_** ** _̡_** ** _n_** ** _͢_** **_̷_** ** _top_** ** _͞_** ** _o_** ** _͠_** ** _f t_** ** _̧_** ** _h_** ** _҉_** ** _i_** ** _͢_** ** _s_** ** _̸_** **_aw_** ** _̵_** ** _fu_** ** _̛_** ** _l wa_** ** _ll?_** ** _" He huffed._**

 ** _"_** ** _͝_** ** _Li_** ** _҉_** ** _f_** ** _̢_** ** _e is_** ** _͟_** ** _n'_** ** _͟_** ** _t_** ** _͏_** **_͢_** ** _fai_** ** _̨_** ** _r,_** ** _̨_** ** _is_** ** _͘_** ** _it_** ** _̡_** ** _._** ** _͝_** ** _"_** ** _̛_** ** _S_** ** _̵_** ** _h_** ** _͜_** ** _e_** ** _͢_** **_͝_** ** _s_** ** _̵_** ** _a_** ** _id_** ** _̕_** ** _sa_** ** _̡_** ** _dly._** ** _̧_**

 ** _Xe_** ** _҉_** ** _p_** ** _͞_** ** _h_** ** _͠_** ** _o_** ** _̡_** ** _s_** ** _͘_** **_pu_** ** _͘_** ** _l_** ** _͜_** ** _le_** ** _͠_** ** _d_** ** _͟_** ** _him_** ** _s_** ** _͟_** ** _el_** ** _f_** ** _up next_** ** _to_** ** _̵_** **_̶_** ** _T_** ** _҉_** ** _aw_** ** _̛_** ** _ny_** ** _a_** ** _̶_** ** _n_** ** _̵_** ** _d_** ** _͞_** **_̴_** ** _shuf_** ** _̵_** ** _f_** ** _̕_** ** _le_** ** _̧_** ** _d_** ** _̶_** **_͡_** ** _c_** ** _̸_** ** _los_** ** _͠_** ** _e_** ** _̢_** ** _r,_** ** _̴_** ** _w_** ** _̸_** ** _rap_** ** _̛_** ** _p_** ** _i_** ** _҉_** ** _n_** ** _̷_** ** _g_** ** _͞_** **_͟_** ** _his_** ** _͏_** **_͠_** ** _a_** ** _̢_** ** _rm o_** ** _̧_** ** _v_** ** _̕_** ** _er h_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _͢_** ** _r_** ** _͝_** ** _s_** ** _͝_** ** _h_** ** _̧_** ** _oul_** ** _̷_** ** _d_** ** _͠_** ** _e_** ** _͟_** ** _r_** ** _͠_** ** _._** ** _̶_**

 **_"_ ** **_̶_ ** **_W_ ** **_҉_ ** **_ha_ ** **_̸_ ** **_t_ ** **_̛_ ** **_h_ ** **_͠_ ** **_ap_ ** **_p_ ** **_͟_ ** **_e_ ** **_̨_ ** **_ne_ ** **_͏_ ** **_d?"_ ** **_͘_ **

**_S_** ** _͏_** ** _h_** ** _͞_** ** _e_** ** _͏_** ** _s_** ** _̕_** ** _i_** ** _͝_** ** _gh_** ** _͟_** ** _ed_** ** _͏_** ** _._** **_͜_** ** _"_** ** _̸_** ** _A_** ** _҉_** ** _bank_** ** _͝_** **_҉_** ** _r_** ** _o_** ** _͢_** ** _b_** ** _͞_** ** _b_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _͝_** ** _r_** ** _͠_** ** _manage_** ** _͡_** ** _d_** ** _̨_** **_̶_** ** _t_** ** _o_** ** _̵_** ** _s_** ** _͠_** ** _t_** ** _͝_** ** _ab t_** ** _h_** ** _̸_** ** _is_** ** _͟_** ** _w_** ** _̡_** ** _o_** ** _҉_** ** _man b_** ** _̵_** ** _ef_** ** _͘_** ** _ore_** ** _͠_** ** _I_** ** _͠_** ** _c_** ** _̷_** ** _ou_** ** _͜_** ** _l_** ** _͢_** ** _d_** ** _͡_** ** _dea_** ** _̵_** ** _l_** ** _wit_** ** _h_** ** _̷_** ** _h_** ** _i_** ** _m."_** ** _҉_**

 ** _"O_** ** _̕_** ** _h n_** ** _̛_** ** _o_** ** _͞_** ** _._** ** _̛_** **_̴_** ** _Is_** ** _̢_** ** _she_** ** _._** ** _.._** ** _̵_** ** _?"_** ** _͘_**

 ** _͢_** ** _"I_** ** _͞_** **_̛_** ** _go_** ** _̨_** ** _t_** ** _̕_** **_̡_** ** _he_** ** _͘_** ** _r_** ** _̛_** ** _to hospi_** ** _͢_** ** _tal_** ** _̶_** **_̧_** ** _an_** ** _̛_** ** _d_** ** _͜_** **_̸_** ** _th_** ** _̨_** ** _ey_** ** _̵_** ** _s_** ** _̕_** ** _a_** ** _҉_** ** _id_** ** _̷_** ** _th_** ** _̢_** ** _e_** ** _̡_** ** _y_** ** _͟_** ** _'_** ** _d_** ** _͏_** ** _t_** ** _͢_** ** _a_** ** _̶_** ** _k_** ** _͜_** ** _e_** ** _͞_** ** _c_** ** _͝_** ** _a_** ** _re_** ** _͞_** ** _o_** ** _͝_** ** _f h_** ** _̷_** ** _e_** ** _̨_** ** _r._** ** _̡_** ** _"_** ** _̸_**

 ** _"Was_** ** _̨_** ** _she_** **_҉_** ** _activ_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _̵_** ** _ly dyi_** ** _͡_** ** _n_** ** _̸_** ** _g_** ** _͢_** ** _,_** ** _͢_** ** _dea_** ** _̕_** ** _r?_** ** _̷_** ** _"_**

 ** _"_** ** _͠_** ** _N_** ** _͝_** ** _o._** ** _͘_** ** _B_** ** _͏_** ** _u_** ** _̷_** ** _t_** ** _͞_** ** _, no_** ** _. I_** ** _҉_** ** _t_** ** _̵_** ** _sho_** ** _͝_** ** _uldn_** ** _͘_** ** _'_** ** _͜_** ** _t_** ** _͏_** ** _hav_** ** _͡_** ** _e_** ** _҉_** **_h_** ** _͝_** ** _a_** ** _͜_** ** _ppene_** ** _d_** ** _͢_** ** _in_** ** _the_** ** _͠_** ** _firs_** ** _̢_** ** _t_** ** _̕_** ** _p_** ** _̡_** ** _lace._** ** _̸_** ** _"_** ** _̷_**

 ** _͝_** ** _"I_** ** _͏_** ** _know_** ** _̶_** ** _._** ** _̸_** ** _I kno_** ** _͞_** ** _w_** ** _̧_** ** _._** ** _̡_** ** _" X_** ** _ep_** ** _̡_** ** _h_** ** _̧_** ** _o_** ** _̛_** ** _s p_** ** _͡_** ** _ull_** ** _͞_** ** _e_** ** _͜_** ** _d_** ** _̴_** **_̶_** ** _T_** ** _҉_** ** _aw_** ** _̛_** ** _n_** ** _̢_** ** _y_** ** _̴_** ** _'_** ** _̶_** ** _s_** ** _̵_** ** _h_** ** _͠_** ** _e_** ** _͝_** ** _a_** ** _̷_** ** _d_** ** _̴_** ** _so i_** ** _̧_** ** _t le_** ** _͡_** ** _ane_** ** _͘_** ** _d_** ** _͘_** ** _on_** ** _̷_** ** _hi_** ** _̡_** ** _s_** ** _͢_** **_sh_** ** _̸_** ** _o_** ** _͢_** ** _u_** ** _͘_** ** _l_** ** _̡_** ** _der._** ** _͡_** **_̶_** ** _"_** ** _͢_** ** _It_** ** _͢_** ** _'_** ** _͟_** ** _s h_** ** _҉_** ** _ar_** ** _d_** ** _͝_** ** _._** ** _͠_** ** _I_** ** _̕_** ** _t_** ** _͏_** ** _'_** ** _͏_** ** _s_** ** _̢_** ** _so_** ** _̧_** **_̶_** ** _h_** ** _̡_** ** _ar_** ** _̢_** ** _d_** **_͠_** ** _to_** ** _b_** ** _͞_** ** _e a_** ** _͜_** ** _s_** ** _͡_** **_͘_** ** _go_** ** _o_** ** _̷_** ** _d_** ** _͝_** ** _a_** ** _͡_** ** _s you_** ** _̧_** **_a_** ** _͝_** ** _re_** ** _̸_** ** _."_** ** _҉_**

 **_"Xe_ ** **_͏_ ** **_ph_ ** **_̛_ ** **_."_ ** **_͞_ **

**_̨_** ** _"_** ** _͡_** ** _You can'_** ** _̨_** ** _t_** ** _̡_** ** _be e_** ** _҉_** ** _v_** ** _͟_** ** _e_** ** _͞_** ** _ryw_** ** _͢_** ** _her_** ** _e_** ** _͢_** **_̨_** ** _at_** ** _͢_** ** _onc_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _͢_** ** _, th_** ** _͏_** ** _ou_** ** _͡_** ** _gh._** ** _̢_** ** _" H_** ** _͠_** ** _e s_** ** _͡_** ** _ai_** ** _̧_** ** _d, st_** ** _r_** ** _̴_** ** _o_** ** _҉_** ** _k_** ** _̶_** ** _in_** ** _̛_** ** _g_** **_҉_** ** _he_** ** _̵_** ** _r h_** ** _̶_** ** _air_** ** _̶_** ** _._** ** _̸_** **_"_** ** _͘_** ** _That_** ** _'_** ** _̸_** ** _s_** ** _̵_** ** _w_** ** _̷_** ** _hy_** ** _̸_** **_̷_** ** _it_** ** _͞_** ** _'_** ** _s_** ** _҉_** ** _g_** ** _͝_** ** _ood_** ** _͢_** **_to h_** ** _̛_** ** _a_** ** _̧_** ** _ve_** ** _̡_** **_̨_** ** _so_** ** _͘_** ** _m_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _͜_** ** _o_** ** _̸_** ** _n_** ** _̕_** ** _e_** ** _҉_** **_͏_** ** _to have_** ** _̨_** **_̛_** ** _a_** ** _̡_** ** _s_** ** _͠_** ** _h_** ** _̵_** ** _ift wit_** ** _͝_** ** _h."_**

 ** _̡_** ** _"_** ** _̨_** ** _I_** ** _̧_** **_҉_** ** _ca_** ** _͘_** ** _n_** ** _͏_** ** _'t_** ** _̶_** **_҉_** ** _k_** ** _̡_** ** _e_** ** _̧_** ** _ep ta_** ** _̶_** ** _king_** ** _҉_** ** _yo_** ** _͞_** ** _u, X_** ** _͏_** ** _ep_** ** _͝_** ** _h."_** ** _͝_** ** _S_** ** _͡_** ** _he said._** ** _͏_** **_҉_** ** _"_** ** _҉_** ** _Y_** ** _̛_** ** _o_** ** _͢_** ** _u'll_** ** _͟_** **_̧_** ** _onl_** ** _̡_** ** _y_** ** _̶_** ** _g_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _t_** ** _̧_** **_̷_** ** _you_** ** _̛_** ** _rs_** ** _̵_** ** _elf_** ** _̡_** ** _ki_** ** _͜_** ** _l_** ** _͠_** ** _l_** ** _̷_** ** _ed._** ** _̵_** ** _"_** ** _͜_**

 ** _"And_** ** _̴_** ** _y_** ** _̵_** ** _o_** ** _͟_** ** _u_** ** _͟_** **_̴_** ** _ca_** ** _͟_** ** _n_** ** _̷_** ** _'t_** ** _̶_** **_̵_** ** _ju_** ** _̵_** ** _s_** ** _̵_** ** _t_** ** _̶_** **_̨_** ** _st_** ** _͞_** ** _ick_** ** _wi_** ** _̨_** ** _t_** ** _h_** ** _̡_** ** _Khaz_** ** _͞_** ** _a_** ** _̡_** ** _l_** ** _̸_** ** _l_** ** _͢_** ** _t_** ** _͝_** ** _h_** ** _̷_** ** _e_** ** _̛_** ** _ti_** ** _͢_** ** _me_** ** _̛_** ** _._** ** _͘_** ** _Y_** ** _̶_** ** _o_** ** _͢_** ** _u_** ** _̷_** ** _'re_** ** _̧_** ** _bo_** ** _̷_** ** _th_** ** _ex_** ** _̷_** ** _ha_** ** _͜_** ** _u_** ** _͝_** ** _s_** ** _̛_** ** _t_** ** _͢_** ** _i_** ** _̸_** ** _n_** ** _̵_** ** _g_** ** _̛_** **_̸_** ** _yo_** ** _͜_** ** _u_** ** _͜_** ** _rse_** ** _͞_** ** _l_** ** _v_** ** _̧_** ** _e_** ** _̨_** ** _s."_**

 ** _"_** ** _̷_** ** _I_** ** _̸_** ** _'m_** ** _͠_** ** _n͜͢o͟t dr_** ** _̶_** ** _ag_** ** _̷_** ** _ging_** ** _̨_** ** _othe_** ** _͏_** ** _r p_** ** _͏_** ** _e_** ** _҉_** ** _ople_** ** _͜_** **_͘_** ** _in_** ** _̧_** ** _t_** ** _͞_** ** _o_** ** _҉_** ** _t_** ** _̛_** ** _h_** ** _̨_** ** _i_** ** _̢_** ** _s_** ** _̸_** ** _li_** ** _n_** ** _͏_** ** _e_** ** _͢_** **_̕_** ** _o_** ** _̷_** ** _f_** ** _̸_** ** _w_** ** _҉_** ** _ork_** ** _͏_** ** _." Ta_** ** _͟_** ** _wn_** ** _͢_** ** _y_** ** _͞_** **_̡_** ** _sa_** ** _i_** ** _̨_** ** _d_** ** _̡_** **_͞_** ** _firmly._**

 ** _̛_** ** _"_** ** _̨_** ** _You_** ** _͜_** ** _keep fo_** ** _͘_** ** _r_** ** _getti_** ** _͞_** ** _ng,_** ** _̕_** ** _l_** ** _̴_** ** _ov_** ** _̕_** ** _e_** ** _̴_** ** _."_** ** _X_** ** _ep_** ** _̶_** ** _h_** ** _͠_** ** _o_** ** _̷_** ** _s_** ** _͏_** ** _s_** ** _a_** ** _҉_** ** _id_** ** _͢_** ** _._** ** _͡_** **_̕_** ** _"T_** ** _̴_** ** _here a_** ** _͟_** ** _re_** ** _͡_** ** _o_** ** _̵_** ** _thers_** ** _̢_** ** _."_**

 **_Sh_ ** **_͏_ ** **_e_ ** **_͠_ ** **_s_ ** **_͜_ ** **_ig_ ** **_̕_ ** **_hed. "N_ ** **_̶_ ** **_o_ ** **_͘_ ** **_._ ** **_͞_ ** **_"_ ** **_͘_ **

**_͠_** ** _"Fi_** ** _͜_** ** _n_** ** _͞_** ** _e_** ** _the_** ** _͜_** ** _n_** ** _̡_** ** _."_** ** _҉_** **_̛_** ** _H_** ** _͟_** ** _e_** ** _͝_** ** _s_** ** _͞_** ** _a_** ** _͝_** ** _i_** ** _̴_** ** _d_** ** _̧_** ** _,_** ** _͘_** ** _he sh_** ** _̸_** ** _ifted_** ** _̨_** **_a_** ** _̕_** **_̶_** ** _li_** ** _̧_** ** _tt_** ** _̛_** ** _le,_** ** _̛_** **_̨_** ** _sigh_** ** _̴_** ** _e_** ** _͘_** ** _d hi_** ** _̷_** ** _m_** ** _̕_** ** _s_** ** _҉_** ** _el_** ** _̢_** ** _f_** ** _҉_** ** _._** ** _̡_** ** _"_** ** _̨_** ** _I_** ** _͏_** **_̕_** ** _love_** ** _͠_** ** _y_** ** _̡_** ** _ou,_** ** _̸_** ** _I_** ** _͞_** ** _al_** ** _͞_** ** _w_** ** _͡_** ** _a_** ** _͢_** ** _y_** ** _͝_** ** _s_** ** _wi_** ** _͜_** ** _ll_** ** _̵_** ** _."_**

 ** _̸_** ** _Taw_** ** _ny_** ** _͠_** ** _le_** ** _͠_** ** _t_** ** _͟_** **_̧_** ** _out a_** ** _͢_** **_͟_** ** _litt_** ** _̡_** ** _l_** ** _̡_** ** _e_** ** _͜_** **_̡_** ** _sco_** ** _̕_** ** _f_** ** _̴_** ** _f_** ** _͞_** **_̸_** ** _o_** ** _̵_** ** _f_** ** _̸_** ** _a_** ** _҉_** ** _l_** ** _҉_** ** _au_** ** _͞_** ** _g_** ** _҉_** ** _h_** ** _̵_** ** _. "_** ** _̧_** ** _I_** ** _̡_** ** _'_** ** _͠_** ** _m c_** ** _͞_** ** _o_** ** _͏_** ** _un_** ** _̢_** ** _tin_** ** _̴_** ** _g_** ** _͟_** **_͟_** ** _o_** ** _̶_** ** _n it_** ** _͞_** _."_

*

**In the vast expanse of the Void there was nothing his eyes could perceive. Wherever he turned himself, wherever he tried to find shapes and forms, he found an absence. It was a realm of swallowed ruins and ends he floated through, mounting emptiness pouring into his soul as he existed where there should be nothing.**

**Before his eyes rose a tentacle of a memory, particles fusing and unfusing to show a presence. It was huge, overwhelming him and his concept of size.**

****But the Void was full of many entities.** **

**_Seer._ ** **It said in a tongue that was impossible for a human to recreate. _Do you even know what you’re looking for?_**

**And then there were thousands of tentacle like figures, feelers for entities doomed to reside in the Void and hungry for a connection to the Universe again. The first wrapped around him hurriedly, squeezing him tightly, crushing him.**

**_You’ll see me again._ ** **It said.**

**It ordered.**

*

“They were just fucking weird.” Sparkles said to Panda, leaning on the desk so that he wasn’t hindering any book scanning. “Sometimes I’d just dream of an empty place, which wasn’t bad, it was just nothing.”

“I’d hate to be trapped with nothing at all.” Panda said, tapping his eyepatch. “I had a lot of dreams like that when I worried about losing my other eye and going blind.”

“That sounds awful.” Sparkles frowned.

Panda shrugged. “It was a while ago, though. Haven’t had nightmares like that in a long time.”

“Still.” He sighed. “My dreams are different now.”

“But weren’t you supposed to stop dreaming altogether?”

Sparkles stopped dead. It was, it had been, what had been a big part of his desire for medication. Drugs were untested as to what their influence on powers were, but he’d wanted them to stop his own from working.

And hadn’t they?

But what had changed? How do Seers see? Through dream visions. Through _knowing_.

**_Seers see in Void._ **

“And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” Sparkles said out loud.

“What?” Panda said. “Oh, you’re still on about the empty void thing. Random quote, much.”

“Sorry. It just came to me.” Sparkles said.

**_A blank slate. Everything and Nothing. Void._ **

“I just worked something out.”

*

The two weeks were over before Sparkles could really comprehend how much things had changed for him. His mocks were done, his results were back and looking positive, and he was actually sleeping like a normal human being.

It was with trepidation that he waited for his name to be called in the waiting room of the hospital. His nails were getting long again, long enough to scratch his face with. He would rub the patches of stubble that were emerging on his face just to feel the scratchy texture on his palm. His friends were collectively losing their shit over his new feature.

“Mate, so many people are going to swoon over you now.” Leo had said.

“Yeah, having the ability to grow a beard is incredibly sexy.” Kogie had said. “Makes you seem a little more mature.”

“Less baby faced.” Panda had said. He’d looked at Nilesy and patted his cheeks. “Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. It’s cute.”

“Anyway.” Parv had said. “Sparkles is going to imminently get laid as soon as he gets to Uni.”

“Like hell I am.” Sparkles had said amid bursts of uncontrollable laughter. “You haven’t gotten laid and you’ve had it for a couple of years now.”

“Fuck you, Sparkles.” Parv had said. He’d made a pleased noise and raised his eyebrows seductively. “Fuck you, indeed.”

“Sparkles.” A nurse called, interrupting his trail of thought.

“Here.” He said absentmindedly.

He followed the nurse down the corridor and went in the indicated door. It was as if Dr Soence seated at her desk hadn’t moved since his last visit. She pushed her hair back behind her ears and looked up at him.

“Sparkles, hello. How have things been?”

“So much better.” He said. “It’s been…” His eyes searched the ceiling for inspiration. “Soul saving.”

“Hm.” She said, a thoughtful smile on her face. “Reactions usually aren’t that extreme after your kind of treatments. Sleeping had been that much easier?”

“Yes. Whatever had been making my dreams as awful as they were was sorted out. I had my mock exams the other week, right, and they went so well. It was much better than my other exam experiences.”

“And your dreams? What’s changed?”

“They haven’t stopped, but they’re not the horrific things that I used to dream of.”

“Are they the random strange events that dreams are usually of?”

“People star gazing and choosing cats to adopt, that kind of thing.”

“Do you still not see people you know in your dreams?”

“There are people I recognise now, yeah. Or I think I do. I don’t personally know all of them, some are just people I know of.”

“Like what?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Uh.” Sparkles thought back through the hazy scenarios. Details suddenly alluded him the moment he tried to squint. “Well. There was one where this guy who I think was someone I met working at the University broke into the Mayor’s office just to steal his pencils.”

Dr Soence snorted. “Nice.”

“Plotlines are weird, as I said.” Sparkles shrugged. “Dreams aren’t meant to make sense, are they.”

“No.” She tapped at her tablet. “Did you appear as yourself in your dreams.”

He thought for a second, caught with another revelation. “No. I was just a viewer.”

“Hm, ok.” She wrinkled her face. “I think that may just be a strange facet of your dreams, Sparkles. You’re aren’t involved in the scenarios, but you still see them.”

“Seems like that, yeah.”

She questioned him on his diet and health again. Asked how he took the medication and how it affected him.

“No nasty side effects is wonderful.” She said. “Thought that is something you may have to watch out in the coming weeks.”

“What do you mean?” He asked, even though

**_Addiction_ **

he knew what she was talking about.

“As I told you before, it’s not a good idea to take the drug for too long, or to suddenly stop taking it.” She showed him the tablet and the bulletpoint list she had up of various negative symptoms from the drug. “It is not a good idea for you to be taking the drug anymore, and your improving condition is reassuring enough for myself to feel that your prescription was a sufficiently long enough time to be using it.”

“So that’s it?” Sparkles felt worry bubble up inside of him. He didn’t want to go back to how it had used to be. “I’m done with the drugs?”

“Not quite.” She said. “To wean you off you get to have a week of gradually lowered strength of drug. By the end of that time we’ll ask you to come in a final time to be checked over, and then hopefully you’ll be discharged from us for a long long time.”

“Right.” He said, he didn’t know what to say. Things had finally been going so well. “That makes sense.”

“Then that’s us just about done. Unless, is there anything else you want to know?” She asked.

He had to be prepared in the future. He knew what he had to look out for now. Lorazepam may be leaving the table, but this had proved medication could help him.

“Should my migraines return, since they’ve been a part of my life before all the rest of this happened, I’d like to be able to deal with them.”

“Migraine tablets we can do for you.” She said. “So long as they’re taken responsibly when you feel a migraine approaching, then I can prescribe them for you and have you pick them up after our final meeting next week.”

“Great. I’m glad that could be done.” He smiled politely at her. “I was worried about coming across a desperate and all.”

“Not at all.” Dr Soence said. “It’s good that you’re showing concern for your health, Sparkles. No worries.”

“I guess I just go to the prescription desk on my way out then, yes?” Sparkles stood up again.

“I’ve already sent the prescription order ahead.” She smiled. “Your mother has been sent the information about the costs of all this.”

He slowed to a stop from his retreat. He’d forgotten there were aspects of the last month and half that the hospital would tell him through the mail rather than in these meetings. “Costs.”

“You both signed the contact details form, yes?” Dr Soence said. “It was her details she put on for us to contact.”

“We haven’t really talked about it.” He said neutrally.

“Might want to check with her then.”

“Isn’t treatment free though?”

“Some are.” Dr Soence's face twisted with irritation not directed at him. “But your drug isn’t anymore. Not since Strifecorp bought out some medication companies and had some laws changed. Believe me when I say you’re not the only one it inconveniences.”

“Oh.” He said. “Goodbye then.”

Oh.

*

 ** _M_** ** _͞_** ** _a_** ** _̶_** ** _yor_** ** _̕_** ** _R_** ** _̕_** ** _idged_** ** _͜_** ** _o_** ** _̨_** ** _g_** ** _̷_** **_̸_** ** _s_** ** _̵_** ** _t_** ** _̷_** ** _r_** ** _͝_** ** _ol_** ** _̶_** ** _l_** ** _̴_** ** _e_** ** _͝_** ** _d_** ** _̢_** ** _th_** ** _̵_** ** _r_** ** _̵_** ** _o_** ** _̵_** ** _ugh_** ** _̸_** **_͝_** ** _an a_** ** _nc_** ** _͠_** ** _ien_** ** _̨_** ** _t_** ** _̛_** **_̴_** ** _a_** ** _̢_** ** _rc_** ** _͞_** ** _h_** ** _̡_** ** _iv_** ** _͜_** ** _e_** ** _̸_** ** _of_** ** _̵_** ** _boo_** ** _͘_** ** _ks_** ** _̵_** **_̵_** ** _a_** ** _̧_** ** _nd_** ** _̴_** **_̢_** ** _s_** ** _҉_** ** _c_** ** _̵_** ** _roll_** ** _̡_** ** _s. H_** ** _̨_** ** _is_** ** _̶_** **_̧_** ** _e_** ** _̵_** ** _ye_** ** _s_** ** _͜_** **_͜_** ** _sl_** ** _̧_** ** _id o_** ** _v_** ** _͢_** ** _e_** ** _r t_** ** _̶_** ** _he_** ** _̸_** ** _t_** ** _̕_** ** _o_** ** _͟_** ** _mes,_** ** _͟_** **_͢_** ** _p_** ** _̧_** ** _rote_** ** _̷_** ** _c_** ** _͝_** ** _t_** ** _҉_** ** _e_** ** _̸_** ** _d_** ** _̴_** ** _by_** ** _͘_** ** _gl_** ** _̴_** ** _a_** ** _͘_** ** _ss_** ** _̷_** ** _a_** ** _͠_** ** _n_** ** _҉_** ** _d_** ** _̡_** **_͝_** ** _clot_** ** _͏_** ** _h f_** ** _̨_** ** _r_** ** _͠_** ** _om_** ** _̨_** ** _d_** ** _͡_** ** _ust_** ** _̧_** **_͞_** ** _and su_** ** _̴_** ** _n_** ** _l_** ** _̸_** ** _i_** ** _͠_** ** _g_** ** _͠_** ** _h_** ** _̴_** ** _t_** ** _̧_** ** _._** ** _҉_** **_̧_** ** _He_** ** _was looki_** ** _͘_** ** _n_** ** _̨_** ** _g fo_** ** _͠_** ** _r_** ** _̷_**

**_Something shifted._ **

*

 ** _Mayor_** ** _̡_** ** _R_** ** _̶_** ** _i_** ** _҉_** ** _d_** ** _͜_** ** _ge_** ** _̡_** ** _do_** ** _҉_** ** _g a_** ** _̷_** ** _r_** ** _͡_** ** _r_** ** _̡_** ** _iv_** ** _̶_** ** _ing_** ** _͡_** ** _b_** ** _̶_** ** _a_** ** _̛_** ** _ck f_** ** _͠_** ** _r_** ** _̧_** ** _o_** ** _͡_** ** _m a_** ** _m_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _̡_** ** _e_** ** _͘_** ** _t_** ** _͢_** ** _i_** ** _͡_** ** _ng_** ** _͡_** ** _._** ** _̸_** **_̡_** ** _He_** ** _͡_** **_w_** ** _̧_** ** _a_** ** _͠_** ** _s_**

**_He’d seen up to here before._ **

**_Something shifted._ **

*

 ** _"W_** ** _̡_** ** _ha_** ** _͟_** ** _t_** ** _͜_** ** _say_** ** _̛_** ** _y_** ** _̸_** ** _o_** ** _̶_** ** _u_** ** _͏_** ** _?"_** ** _͢_** **_͡_** ** _M_** ** _͡_** ** _ayo_** ** _͏_** ** _r_** ** _͏_** ** _Ri_** ** _̨_** ** _d_** ** _̢_** ** _ge_** ** _̸_** ** _d_** ** _̡_** ** _og_** ** _͟_** ** _as_** ** _̷_** ** _k_** ** _̛_** ** _ed_** ** _̴_** **_̡_** ** _W_** ** _̛_** ** _i_** ** _̶_** ** _lliam_** ** _͝_** ** _S_** ** _͠_** ** _t_** ** _̶_** ** _r_** ** _̷_** ** _i_** ** _͡_** ** _fe._** ** _̛_**

 ** _͟_** ** _He w_** ** _͟_** ** _as_** ** _͠_** ** _d_** ** _̛_** ** _r_** ** _҉_** ** _a_** ** _̶_** ** _p_** ** _̷_** ** _ed acro_** ** _̢_** ** _s_** ** _̨_** ** _s_** ** _͟_** ** _t_** ** _͏_** ** _h_** ** _͏_** ** _e_** ** _̧_** ** _d_** ** _͜_** ** _esk of_** ** _t_** ** _͘_** ** _h_** ** _̕_** ** _e_** ** _̨_** **_͘_** ** _bu_** ** _̕_** ** _s_** ** _̷_** ** _ine_** ** _͢_** ** _ssman,_** ** _̴_** ** _s_** ** _̵_** ** _m_** ** _͝_** ** _i_** ** _̕_** ** _l_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _wi_** ** _̨_** ** _d_** ** _҉_** ** _e, e_** ** _̸_** ** _y_** ** _̶_** ** _e_** ** _̷_** ** _s br_** ** _̕_** ** _i_** ** _̨_** ** _gh_** ** _͡_** ** _t_** ** _҉_** ** _gre_** ** _͏_** ** _en_** ** _̨_** ** _. S_** ** _̵_** ** _t_** ** _̨_** ** _rife s_** ** _̶_** ** _eem_** ** _͘_** ** _ed b_** ** _͡_** ** _ored_** ** _̸_** ** _, h_** ** _͟_** ** _is a_** ** _̶_** ** _r_** ** _͡_** ** _ms_** ** _̴_** **_͞_** ** _cross_** ** _̶_** ** _e_** ** _͟_** ** _d._** ** _̢_**

 **_"You_ ** **_̵_ ** **_h_ ** **_̛_ ** **_ave_ ** **_̵_ ** **_no_ ** **_̡_ ** **_ide_ ** **_͝_ ** **_a ab_ ** **_͝_ ** **_ou_ ** **_͢_ ** **_t_ ** **_̡_ ** **_me_ ** **_."_ ** **_͠_ **

**_̢_** ** _"_** ** _̸_** ** _O_** ** _̵_** ** _h_** ** _͜_** ** _, b_** ** _̛_** ** _ut_** ** _̶_** ** _I t_** ** _hi_** ** _͞_** ** _nk_** ** _͏_** ** _I_** ** _̵_** ** _do."_** ** _̕_** ** _R_** ** _i_** ** _d_** ** _͝_** ** _gedog_** ** _̶_** **_̨_** ** _g_** ** _r_** ** _̴_** ** _i_** ** _҉_** ** _nned._** ** _̵_** ** _"I_** ** _͡_** ** _k_** ** _now_** _̵_

**_Something shifted._ **

*

 ** _Wi_** ** _̢_** ** _ngs unf_** ** _͘_** ** _ur_** ** _̴_** ** _l_** ** _̢_** ** _e_** ** _̴_** ** _d._** ** _̸_** **_̶_** ** _T_** ** _̧_** ** _h_** ** _̢_** ** _e_** ** _̶_** ** _y span_** ** _̡_** ** _ne_** ** _͡_** ** _d_** ** _͝_** **_͏_** ** _f_** ** _̷_** ** _a_** ** _͞_** ** _r en_** ** _͘_** ** _o_** ** _҉_** ** _u_** ** _͞_** ** _g_** ** _̶_** ** _h_** ** _̛_** ** _t_** ** _͞_** ** _h_** ** _̧_** ** _at_** ** _͞_** **_t_** ** _͞_** ** _h_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _͝_** ** _y_** ** _̡_** **_̡_** ** _bl_** ** _̸_** ** _o_** ** _t_** ** _̴_** ** _t_** ** _͏_** ** _ed_** ** _͞_** **_̵_** ** _out_** ** _̷_** ** _the_** ** _͢_** ** _sk_** ** _͟_** ** _y_** ** _̨_** ** _be_** ** _hind_** ** _̵_** **_͘_** ** _th_** ** _͝_** ** _e f_** ** _̢_** ** _i_** ** _͢_** ** _g_** ** _͏_** ** _u_** ** _͟_** ** _re. Their_** ** _̵_** ** _e_** ** _͠_** ** _yes_** **_͘_** ** _g_** ** _̵_** ** _lowe_** ** _͘_** ** _d_** ** _̷_** ** _a_** ** _̴_** ** _v_** ** _̶_** ** _ib_** ** _ran_** ** _͏_** ** _t_** ** _͟_** **_͜_** ** _r_** ** _̕_** ** _e_** ** _͠_** ** _d,_** ** _̴_** ** _t_** ** _̵_** ** _he_** ** _i_** ** _͞_** ** _r_** ** _̵_** ** _lon_** ** _͢_** ** _g_** ** _͝_** **_̶_** ** _h_** ** _̢_** ** _a_** ** _͟_** ** _i_** ** _̸_** ** _r_** ** _̢_** ** _st_** ** _͢_** ** _a_** ** _͜_** ** _rk_** ** _͜_** ** _w_** ** _͟_** ** _h_** ** _̸_** ** _it_** ** _e ag_** ** _͏_** ** _ai_** ** _̶_** ** _nst_** ** _͟_** ** _t_** ** _̡_** ** _h_** ** _̨_** ** _e_** ** _̵_** ** _da_** ** _͜_** ** _rk_** ** _̷_** ** _ne_** ** _͠_** ** _s_** ** _͜_** ** _s_** ** _͏_** ** _ar_** ** _̧_** ** _ou_** ** _̶_** ** _nd_** ** _̧_** ** _the_** ** _̷_** ** _m,_** ** _̵_** **_͟_** ** _a_** ** _nd_** ** _̶_** ** _th_** ** _͝_** ** _e scr_** ** _̕_** ** _eam_** ** _̛_** **_̵_** ** _t_** ** _̨_** ** _hat_** ** _̨_** ** _ca_** ** _̡_** ** _me from_** ** _͜_** **_͟_** ** _t_** ** _̸_** ** _he_** ** _͏_** ** _ir_** ** _̵_** **_̕_** ** _t_** ** _̢_** ** _hro_** ** _͜_** ** _a_** ** _t_** ** _̴_** ** _was_** ** _̴_** ** _o_** ** _͟_** ** _n_** ** _҉_** ** _e_** ** _̶_** ** _that_** ** _̢_** **_͏_** ** _hu_** ** _̴_** ** _m_** ** _̨_** ** _an_** ** _͘_** ** _s c_** ** _͞_** ** _o_** ** _ul_** ** _̵_** ** _d_** ** _̛_** **_̢_** ** _not make._** ** _̢_**

 ** _͞_** ** _They_** ** _͏_** **_͏_** ** _wer_** ** _̸_** ** _e_** ** _̕_** **_͘_** ** _firs_** ** _̷_** ** _t_** ** _̧_**

*

Static in dreams wasn’t the tidiest way to move between scenes, and as he walked back Sparkles thought more on the details that eluded him. Some things he couldn’t see, didn’t want to see. But he hadn’t tested his limits. Hadn’t even thought about trying it until very recently.

He was walking to his mother’s house, ready to catch her as she got back from her weekly shopping trip. He needed to get to the bottom of the costs they would have to pay.

The fund, the healthcare fund.

**_A lie. Spent on the house, on the bills, on food._ **

He walked faster, panic rising in his chest. She didn’t have the money to pay for it all on her own. If she’d only said they could have worked out something together. They could have applied for funds elsewhere, he could find work.

In the alleys leading to his mother’s house he barely glanced to see who he would come across, figures blurring around him. The light of day would keep him safe.

**_No threats._ **

He took the key to the front door out from under the lumpy stone garden statue of a hedgehog and let himself in.

“Mum?” He called.

There was no answer. She wasn’t back yet, which was a surprise, but she was probably running late. He walked around her house, stalking the claustrophobic spaces and noticing little things that made his heart seize up in his chest.

The kitchen bin was empty except for cans that would have contained food. There were wrappers of snack bars strewn in the various bins around the house. Despite the warmth of the day there wasn’t a fan out. None of the appliances were plugged in or turned on. In the bathroom there was a bucket in the shower cubicle. By her bed and in many places around the house there were strategic candles placed.

Sparkles slumped on the sofa in the lounge with his head in his hands.

“Oh Gods.” He whispered. “Oh, fuck me.”

Where was she?

**_The foodbank. She ran out of tinned food and knew she needed to get more from somewhere._ **

“No.” He whispered. “No.”

But he couldn’t deny what she was doing, could he? She was doing all she could to afford paying for his medication. She was starving herself and doing all she could for cheaper bills. She was suffering immensely. For him.

He wished he had never accepted the medication now, despite the springboard it had been for him. Guilt washed over him, but then, then he remembered. Something Dr Soence had said.

Strifecorp had bought medicine companies and had rules changed. William shithead Strife.

He felt a coldness fill his entire body, loathing and frustration and sadness in a complicated concoction. Strife was everywhere, the fabrication of his humanity broken in an instance. He owned everything, controlled everything feasible. He was a villain, a dirty disgusting excuse for a person.

He couldn’t get anything anymore if it was owned by Strife. He wouldn’t fund the bastard anymore. Strife wouldn’t profit off of his power anymore.

A phrase came to his mind, as they often came to him now he was aware of his power.

“Eat the rich.” He said through gritted teeth. “And fuck him. Fuck them. Fuck this fucking toxic place.”

He heard a key turn in the door and the sudden entrance of his mother.

“Sparkles?” She called. “Is that you?”

Sparkles took a deep breath to cleanse his mind. The path forward was clear. He needed to discover his role.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last, Sparkles wakes up after that last cliffhanger. To be real though, my life is not really like his at all, but the beginning of this chapter was very hard to write. It struck a weird chord with me which resulted in me putting it off for months. Promises for chapter length and an upload schedule are probably stupid at this rate, but I want to finish Part 2 of TCM in June. I've got to finish this fanfic before more of my headcanons are proved wrong by stuff randomaffection reveals in the comic or on discord.  
> Check out the new content coming soon on the tumblr btw. And join the discord for shenanigans like: making superyogs memes, oohing and ahhing over new Overwatch skins, and discussing whether Smiffy is capable of getting some when he's made of slime.  
> Until next time B)


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